Everton Got Weeks. Forest Got Weeks. City Got Years. Now the Verdict Is In.
Nearly eight years after the Premier League opened its investigation, reports say an independent commission has found Manchester City guilty on almost every charge. DSN asks why it took so long, what it could cost, and who pays the price.
Main image: The Etihad Stadium. Photo: Arne Müseler / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE
Nearly eight years after the Premier League opened its investigation, reports say an independent commission has found Manchester City guilty on almost every charge. DSN asks why it took so long, what it could cost, and who pays the price.
For years, rival fans said this day would come. On Thursday 25 September 2026, according to The Athletic and The Times, it did.
An independent commission has reportedly found Manchester City guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought by the Premier League. The ruling has not been published. City deny wrongdoing and say the process “remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality.” They are expected to appeal.
But if the reports hold, English football’s biggest scandal has its answer.
What City were charged with
The Premier League referred City to a commission on 6 February 2023, after an investigation opened in December 2018. That probe followed the Football Leaks documents published by Der Spiegel. The charges fall into five groups:
| Charges | Allegation | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 54 | Failing to provide accurate financial information, including sponsorship revenue | 2009/10 to 2017/18 |
| 14 | Failing to give full details of player and manager pay | 2009/10 to 2017/18 |
| 5 | Breaching UEFA Financial Fair Play rules | 2013/14 to 2017/18 |
| 7 | Breaching Premier League Profitability and Sustainability rules | 2015/16 to 2017/18 |
| 35 | Failing to cooperate with the Premier League investigation | December 2018 to February 2023 |
The hearing ran from 16 September to 6 December 2024. Then came a 21-month silence.
Everton and Forest were dealt with in months
This is where fans feel the system failed. Everton were referred in March 2023 and docked 10 points on 17 November 2023, later cut to six on appeal. A second Everton case, charged in January 2024, ended in a two-point deduction on 8 April 2024. Nottingham Forest were charged on 15 January 2024 and docked four points on 18 March 2024.
From charge to punishment: Everton around eight months, Forest around nine weeks. City: more than three and a half years, and still no sanction.
In fairness, the cases are not the same. Everton and Forest each broke one spending rule, in single accounting periods, under fast-track procedures the league introduced for such cases. City’s case covers 14 seasons, multiple rulebooks and one of the best-funded legal teams in football.
But that explanation cuts both ways. Thirty-five of the charges are for failing to cooperate. City fought the league’s requests for documents through the courts and lost at the Court of Appeal in 2021. Part of the delay fans complain about is, reportedly, part of what City have now been found guilty of.
And this was not the first time. In 2020, UEFA banned City from European competition for two years. The Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the ban, partly because some allegations were time-barred, but still fined City €10m for failing to cooperate.
The trophies in question
Since Sheikh Mansour’s 2008 takeover, City have won eight league titles in ten seasons and their only Champions League in 2023. Honours won inside the 2009/10 to 2017/18 accounting window include:
- Premier League: 2011/12, 2013/14, 2017/18
- FA Cup: 2011
- League Cup: 2014, 2016, 2018
Would they be stripped? There’s no Premier League precedent. The closest is Italy’s Calciopoli in 2006, when Juventus lost two Serie A titles and were relegated. If it happened here, Manchester United would be in line for 2011/12 and 2017/18, and Liverpool for 2013/14. The 2023 Treble falls outside the accounting charges, but inside the years City are said to have obstructed the investigation.
These are possibilities, not outcomes. The commission’s sanctions have not been announced.
The players
The Express has published a list of 22 first-team players, led by Erling Haaland, who could push for exits “in a worst-case scenario”. There is no clause in their contracts that frees them. That list only matters if the punishment is severe, such as relegation or European exclusion.
Haaland signed a nine-and-a-half-year deal in January 2025 and has said he isn’t afraid of any punishment. But elite players have short careers. If a heavy points deduction or a ban from the Champions League lands, agents will be making calls.
There is a moral point here too. Most of this squad were children when the alleged breaches began. They earned their medals on the pitch. If titles are touched, they carry the stain for decisions made in boardrooms.
The people nobody talks about
A football club is not just 25 players. It’s kit staff, analysts, academy coaches, groundstaff, hospitality workers and the women’s team. A points deduction, lost Champions League revenue or a transfer ban hits budgets. Budgets hit jobs. When Juventus were relegated in 2006, key players were sold and the club spent a season rebuilding in Serie B.
If City are punished hard, the people who never saw a spreadsheet may feel it first.
Pep’s promise
In 2022, Pep Guardiola made a pledge to City’s hierarchy: “If you lie to me, the day after I am not here. I will be out, and I will not be your friend any more.” He said he had asked the club about the allegations and believed them. He repeatedly defended the club in public: “They explain and I believe them.”
On 22 May 2026, Guardiola announced he was leaving at the end of the season, a year before his contract ended, with 20 trophies. His reasons: “Deep inside, I know it’s my time” and “I feel I will not have the energy every day.” Enzo Maresca replaced him.
Many fans have joined the dots. Did Pep, close to the club’s leadership, sense what was coming? DSN can’t answer that, and neither can anyone outside Pep’s inner circle. There is evidence against the theory: the findings weren’t reported until four months after he left, and he stayed on as a City Football Group global ambassador. If his 2022 words meant what they said, the question now is whether he keeps that role.
Also on DSN: Manchester City’s 115 Charges: Reported Findings Put Years of Delay Under the Spotlight.
Our sister site DGBN has also covered Manchester City agreeing a £65m deal for Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye.
What happens next
- The commission’s full written ruling is expected to be published.
- Sanctions will be set. Options include fines, points deductions, transfer bans and, in theory, expulsion.
- City are expected to appeal, which could add months more.
- Rival clubs, including those who finished behind City, may pursue compensation claims.
The wait isn’t quite over. But for the first time in nearly eight years, the question is no longer whether City broke the rules. It’s what it will cost them.
DSN will update this story when the commission’s ruling is published. Manchester City deny all wrongdoing.
