Manchester City’s financial controversy can be traced back to the huge changes in English football after the arrival of wealthy owners such as Roman Abramovich at Chelsea and Sheikh Mansour at Manchester City.
Before financial regulations were introduced, clubs could spend heavily regardless of their income. But after concerns about rising debts and clubs spending beyond their means, UEFA introduced Financial Fair Play, followed by the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules.
The rules were designed to stop clubs from gaining an unfair advantage through excessive spending. However, City were later accused of finding ways around them.
The Premier League charged Manchester City with allegedly failing to provide accurate financial information, including details surrounding player and manager payments between 2009 and 2018. The club was also accused of inflating commercial revenues through sponsorship agreements connected to its Abu Dhabi ownership.
One of the allegations involved former manager Roberto Mancini, who reportedly received additional payments for consultancy work at an Abu Dhabi-based club while managing City.
City have consistently denied wrongdoing and maintained that the allegations were based on leaked documents that were taken out of context.
UEFA previously sanctioned City over alleged Financial Fair Play breaches, but their two-year Champions League ban was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2020, although the club was fined €10 million for failing to cooperate with investigators.
The Premier League’s separate investigation into City’s alleged 115 breaches has now become one of the biggest financial controversies in English football.
