{"id":910791,"date":"2026-09-30T08:26:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T08:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/910791\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T08:26:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T08:26:23","slug":"manchester-city-scandal-2026-melbourne-city-connection-australian-updates-what-happens-next-after-premier-league-ruling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/910791\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester City scandal 2026: Melbourne City connection; Australian updates; What happens next after Premier League ruling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manchester City<\/a> has been found guilty of arranging \u201csham\u201d contracts as part of a slew of financial breaches that helped it dominate English football in what\u2019s become the biggest scandal in Premier League<\/a> history.<\/p>\n

City, in an independent panel\u2019s verdict published on Wednesday (AEST), was found guilty of almost all of the unprecedented 100-plus charges against it over a nine-year period<\/a> in which the Abu Dhabi-backed team changed the landscape of the richest and most popular football league in the world.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Manchester City after winning the Premier League in 2024.\u00a0AP<\/p>\n

City\u2019s alleged financial wrongdoing was worth in excess of $1.7 billion AUD, and Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said the ruling showed City \u201csystematically broke Premier League rules for nearly a decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis disciplinary case, and this decision, are the most significant in Premier League history,\u201d Masters said.<\/p>\n

City now faces severe sanctions that could include a huge points deduction or even expulsion from the league, causing severe reputational damage to its Abu Dhabi ownership.<\/p>\n

The Premier League said sanctions will be decided in a separate hearing held by the independent commission.<\/p>\n

It did not say when that would take place.<\/p>\n

City has always denied wrongdoing and said in a statement that it was \u201cdisappointed and surprised\u201d by the ruling.<\/p>\n

It also plans to further drag out a case that has already run for more than three years by appealing the verdict and said it would be \u201crelentless\u201d in its fight to clear its name.<\/p>\n

Any appeal by City would have to be made by Friday, the league said.<\/p>\n

In an internal video to City staff, club chief executive Ferran Soriano went into detail about why he felt the verdict was wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has gone on for so long that it is important to remind ourselves that the whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation: that the owner\u2019s personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just not true. Irrefutable evidence has been provided to the Premier League commission that shows it could not happen and that it did not happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The explosive ruling comes after it emerged last week that the charges against City were expected to be upheld following an exhaustive process.<\/p>\n

The Premier League initiated its case more than three years ago and allegations first arose in 2018 from leaked club emails and documents.<\/p>\n

A record-breaking global superpower<\/p>\n

City was accused of a raft of financial violations from 2009-18 – a period when the northwest club, long in the shadow of great rival Manchester United, was transforming itself into a record-breaking global superpower that has won multiple Premier League titles and the Champions League.<\/p>\n

The violations included failing to provide accurate financial information and submitting inflated figures for sponsorship deals out of Abu Dhabi, hiding payments and breaching financial rules established by the Premier League and UEFA, European football\u2019s governing body, intended to keep clubs financially stable by not spending beyond their means.<\/p>\n

On top of that, City faced many other charges of failing to cooperate with the investigation between 2018-23.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn independent commission has found Manchester City guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League\u2019s financial rules over a nine-season period,\u201d the league said, \u201cand the majority of charges in relation to its failure to cooperate with the league\u2019s investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regarding the sponsorship deals, the league said: \u201cManchester City arranged \u2018sham\u2019 contracts (which misrepresented the true agreement between the parties) with a number of its commercial partners, as well as relying on \u2018sham\u2019 agreements with others, to artificially inflate the club\u2019s revenues and reduce its costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe club,\u201d the league added, \u201cfiled misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators.\u201d<\/p>\n

The purpose of City\u2019s \u201cschemes\u201d was found to have been to \u201cartificially inflate the club\u2019s revenues, and reduce its costs, by more than $1.7 billion during the affected period, to appear to comply with financial rules,\u201d the league said.<\/p>\n

The finding suggests that City\u2019s rise to the top of the English game, fuelled by investments from Abu Dhabi that delivered by its expensively assembled, star-studded squads, was achieved at lest in part by evading the league\u2019s financial regulations.<\/p>\n

The verdict is set to bring chaos to English football in general, triggering a slew of lawsuits from rival clubs calling for compensation for having been impacted by City\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the question of whether City\u2019s top stars, like Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki, will stay at the club and what the future holds for Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.<\/p>\n

He is the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and a member of Abu Dhabi\u2019s royal family who bought City in 2008 and has gone on to own a group of worldwide teams – under the City Football Group banner – including New York City FC and Melbourne City.<\/p>\n

City has always protested its innocence in the case, saying in 2023 when the charges were laid that there was a \u201ccomprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even over the weekend, City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said there remained a \u201cconfidence and intent in proving the club\u2019s innocence.\u201d<\/p>\n

The appeal could end up in the High Court in London if City feels the process in the case was unfair and\/or impartial.<\/p>\n

The Melbourne connection to City scandal<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, league officials in Australia said they\u2019d wait to see how the fallout from Manchester City\u2019s financial situation develops, believing it\u2019s too early to raise concern around A-League club Melbourne City, which has been owned by the City Football Group since 2014.<\/p>\n

Australian Professional League chief executive Steve Rosich said the APL, which operates the top domestic men\u2019s and women\u2019s competitions, had never investigated Melbourne City regarding its financial matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo it doesn\u2019t concern us,\u201d Rosich said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Melbourne City celebrate with the Premiers Plate.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is further work to follow and findings to follow in the legal process, so we\u2019ll consider that. The international football economy is intertwined, so all parties will be reviewing that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe report was redacted, and there is further work to follow and findings to follow in the legal process, so we\u2019ll consider that. The international football economy is intertwined, so all parties will be reviewing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foster: \u2018Those titles must be stripped\u2019<\/p>\n

Craig Foster<\/a> argued Manchester City<\/a> must be stripped of their titles won in that time.<\/p>\n

Foster, the ex-Socceroos<\/a> captain, said there was no grey area in how the league should deal with the glamour club.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose titles must be stripped because they cheated,\u201d Foster declared on Stan Sport\u2019s Added Time.<\/a><\/p>\n

Former Socceroos star Tommy Oar also expects \u201csweeping and damaging\u201d punishment, but the road to any enforcement remains long with the club expected to appeal.<\/p>\n

The charges cover nine seasons from 2009-18 and required a four-year investigation.<\/p>\n

City won three Premier League titles during that time.<\/p>\n

Football\u2019s\u00a0new home, Stan Sport<\/a>, is the only place to watch the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, FA Cup, WSL, J.League, NWSL and K League<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester City has been found guilty of arranging \u201csham\u201d contracts as part of a slew of financial breaches…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":910792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-910791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=910791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/910792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=910791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=910791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=910791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}