Manchester City files appeal after Premier League financial breach ruling

Manchester City announced on Friday that it has filed a comprehensive appeal against the Premier League's independent commission ruling that the club breached financial regulations. The commission concluded that the club used commercial arrangements to inflate revenues and reduce costs by about £900 million over a nine-year period from 2009 to 2018.

In a statement posted on the club’s website, City said the opinion contains “clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe,” and asserted that “the club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League.”

The Premier League said any appeal should be concluded as soon as possible. City chief executive Ferran Soriano later sent a video message to staff, stating that the case is based on a “single false accusation” that owners’ personal money was secretly injected into the club via sponsors from Abu Dhabi.

Sources familiar with the appeal indicate the club may argue that the disputed funds originated from the Abu Dhabi government rather than from the Abu Dhabi United Group, the private investment vehicle of Sheikh Mansour, who is also a UAE vice-president and deputy prime minister.