Manchester City have been charged by the Premier League for breaching financial rules more than 100 times in the space of nine seasons, Daily Mail reports.
The charges against the reigning champions relate to financial information regarding revenue, details of manager and player remuneration, UEFA regulations, profitability and sustainability with Premier League investigations.
A statement from the league said alleged breaches were committed from September 2009 to to the 2017-18 season and will now be referred to an independent commission
It adds that the club is alleged to have breached league rules requiring provision ‘in utmost good faith’ of ‘accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club’s financial position’.
Should Man City be found guilty, they face a range of potential sanctions including a points deduction and expulsion. The club have yet to comment but Sportsmail understands that they are prepared to ‘robustly’ defend themselves.
It’s said that there have been more than 100 charges over the space of nine seasons
Between the dates mentioned, Man City won three Premier League titles, an FA Cup and three Carabao Cups.
The Premier League said in a statement, “In accordance with Premier League Rule W.82.1, the Premier League confirms that it has today referred a number of alleged breaches of the Premier League Rules by Manchester City Football Club to a Commission.”
The investigation started in December 2018 after the German investigative website Der Spiegel published documents from the Football Leaks cache which originated from the Portuguese computer hacker Rui Pinto.
It alleged that City had overstated sponsorship income, with money being paid by the club’s Abu Dhabi owners instead of sponsors linked to the Gulf state; effectively doubled former manager Roberto Mancini’s wages via a secret contact with an Abu Dhabi club and broke rules over approaches to young players.
