Manchester City found guilty of breaking Premier League rules

SPEAKER_1 (0:02)

One of the biggest names in world football found guilty of breaking financial rules. What happens to Manchester City now?

David Bernstein (0:09)

There's a huge range of possibilities here, monetary sanctions, relegation, loss of points and so on.

Dale Johnson (0:16)

It's a big club, they've got the infrastructure to fight it, they've got the money. I think it'll be all right.

SPEAKER_1 (0:21)

It's World Business Report from the BBC World Service. I am busy at Dubai. Coming up, the potential punishment facing Manchester City. Also Trump and Xi end their summit, but have the US and China really moved any closer? And nearly 3 million Volkswagen and Audi cars are recalled over fears the Australian could fail.

So Manchester City, one of England's most successful football clubs, has reportedly been found guilty of the majority of more than 100 charges of breaking Premier League financial rules. Well, the punishment is yet to be confirmed, but it could range from a fine or points deduction to in the most serious scenario, expulsion from the Premier League and the hundreds of millions of dollars that goes with membership of the League. Neil Murrow has more on how we got here.

Neil Morrow (1:15)

In February 2023, City were charged with more than 100 breaches of the Premier League's financial rules following a four-year investigation. The club was referred to an independent commission over allegations it breached financial rules between 2009 and 2018

Over that period, City won several trophies, including the Premier League three times, plus three League Cups and an FA Cup. The charges cover the managerial tenures of Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini, plus the first two years of Pep Guardiola's period in charge. The Premier League told the commission that City had breached football rules that require clubs to provide accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club's financial position. In its defence, City denied all the charges, saying their case was supported by irrefutable evidence. However, it seems that the commission believes City did break the rules. As for the club's punishment, that remains unclear. The Premier League has so far declined to comment, while Manchester City say the process remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed. The appeals process could take many years to play out.

SPEAKER_1 (2:26)

Neil Morrow there. Well, David Bernstein is a former chairman of Manchester City and he spoke to the BBC shortly after the news came out.

David Bernstein (2:35)

First of all, this is very personal to me. This is my club. This is the club I've supported since 1954, if you believe that long ago.

And I chaired, as you just said, for five years. So this is really personally painful. I feel almost in a state of shock at this news. And I have to say, I feel incredibly sorry for our wonderful fans, great supporters who support the club through thick and thin, and now find themselves with this huge issue the club is facing. The whole area of sanctions, there's a huge range of possibilities here, of monetary sanctions, relegation, loss of points and so on. So it's impossible to say what's going to happen. And the repercussions in terms of litigation with other clubs is just huge. And in trying to assess this, one's got to look at what happened to Glasgow Rangers, when they were guilty of different but very serious offenses. And of course, Edmonton and Knott's Forest, who were treated pretty heavily on the surface, much lighter charges. So this is a real, real problem.

SPEAKER_1 (3:41)

Well, that was David Bernstein, former chairman of Manchester City. Well, this was the reaction of some Manchester City fans speaking outside their home grounds, the Etihad Stadium in East Manchester.

SPEAKER_5 (3:53)

Regardless what happens, the city found first and foremost, do I agree with the rules? No. If they broke the rules, then they broke the rules.

SPEAKER_7 (4:00)

I don't want to say something's being tainted when we're not at the bottom of this. There's still, you know, things to go on in the background.

SPEAKER_5 (4:07)

It's a big club.

Dale Johnson (4:08)

They've got the infrastructure to fight it. They've got the money. I think it'll be all right.

SPEAKER_1 (4:12)

And I've been speaking to the BBC's sports Dale Johnson, and I asked him why Premier League rules limit how much money club owners can put into their teams.

Dale Johnson (4:21)

Yeah, so the Premier League runs a rule which is called profit and sustainability. And that really does is supposed to limit losses.

So you can't just put limitless amounts of money in and then end up losing money by spending a lot of money on players or on managers or on contracts on that type of thing. So it's supposed to create a level of fairness in terms of the way you operate your club and clearly in the case of Manchester City, the allegations that they didn't behave like that.