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Man City Charges Explained
How Man City reacted to PL charges
Inside the Juventus crisis
Where it went wrong for Jesse Marsch
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Inside Manchester City on a remarkable day that nobody at the club saw coming
Inside Manchester City on a remarkable day that nobody at the club saw coming

Sam Lee
Feb 7, 2023
Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak spent 45 minutes in the visiting dressing room at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium following Sunday’s defeat to Spurs, with chief executive Ferran Soriano joining him for half an hour.

It would appear logical that they were taking the opportunity to get all of the players together to break the news of the impending Premier League charges against the club before the details went public.

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But the topic was strictly football: the club are doing all they can to stave off a patch of inconsistency they fear could cost them the league title. The dour 1-0 defeat at Spurs came after another disappointing performance.

But on Monday morning, things got a whole lot worse — and nobody at City saw it coming.

The club were informed that the Premier League had brought more than 100 charges against them — relating to alleged financial irregularities between 2009-10 and 2017-18 and failing to cooperate with an investigation since 2018 — at around 10am (GMT).

A courier dispatched by the league delivered papers detailing the charges to City’s offices and the league also spoke to Soriano by phone, although City sources say the public statement was published before the call had even ended.

Only a small group of the most senior City employees found out this was coming before the wider world; manager Pep Guardiola was among the first contacted but the vast majority of their employees, including players, only discovered via the media or messages from friends, family and team-mates.

The club took a couple of hours to get their house in order, but muscle memory eventually kicked in. After all, it’s nearly four years since they were informed of a UEFA investigation into alleged financial fair play irregularities and three since they were banned from the Champions League as a result. City always stated their innocence, privately and publicly, and were cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

In short, they have been here before.

go-deeper
GO DEEPER
Man City charges explained: The accusations, possible punishments and what happens next
An official statement from City came first, issued two hours after the league’s. In it, the club expressed its “surprise” at the charges, “particularly given the extensive engagement and vast amount of detailed materials that the EPL has been provided with.

“The club welcomes the review of this matter by an independent commission, to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position. As such, we look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all.”

A couple of hours later, around 2pm (GMT), the club’s players and football staff were addressed after training in City’s first-team building. They had already heard about the charges, but senior figures, including Soriano, reiterated that the club had done nothing wrong and vowed to clear its name. It was the same message as last time.

Much has been made of Guardiola’s quote from May last year in which he said: “I said to them, ‘If you lie to me, I am not here. I will be out’,” but several sources (who, like other sources in this article, spoke on condition of anonymity to protect their relationships) suggested on Monday that this may not be resolved until after the manager leaves the club anyway.



Players’ agents have not been contacted by the club specifically regarding the charges because there is a feeling this is a case of ‘business as usual’, not least because this could take years to resolve, especially if appeals are launched by either City or the Premier League against the independent commission’s decision.

The message coming from the club is clear: if they are found guilty they will fight it with everything they have. City had already made a legal challenge against the Premier League’s investigation, with the club claiming the body had no jurisdiction to investigate and that the process is biased. Both were thrown out and City were denied the right to appeal, but the club sought the right from another judge, were successful, launched an appeal, and then saw that dismissed, too. Both City and the Premier League asked for the details of the challenges to be kept private, but they were unsuccessful. This is how things may play out in the months ahead.

Staff in the club’s non-playing departments received an email in the afternoon, directing them to the club’s statement.

Such is the sheer number of punishments that are on the table, however, some members of staff were concerned about their futures. With City’s expulsion from the league widely discussed in the media, it is only natural to fear the worst. Others simply said they would have to get on with their lives and hope for the best.

That was the general feeling among several former players consulted by The Athletic, who could potentially be stripped of their winners’ medals if City are found guilty. That is far from certain but, as with current employees, it is natural to wonder what the worst outcomes may be. Fernandinho, who won five Premier League medals with City between 2013 and 2022, tuned in to a Twitter space discussing the charges on Monday evening.

Although there was no further official comment beyond the statement, figures at the club spoke bullishly as Monday progressed, in much the same way as they did during the UEFA investigation: there were complaints about the procedures and, in some ways, almost excitement at another opportunity to clear their name.

While they always contested that UEFA’s investigation was biased and flawed, City sources now say the timing of the Premier League’s charges was no accident: the UK government had planned to release its white paper, thought to be in support of an independent regulator for football, this week.


Manchester City were beaten 1-0 at Tottenham on Sunday, at which point nobody at the club knew of the impending charges (Photo: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
City sources argue that a number of minor errors in the Premier League’s statement are a sign the league rushed out its charges to try to prove it can govern effectively without major changes to how the game is run in the UK.

There is also defiance relating to some of the differences between the Premier League’s charges and UEFA’s.

City overturned their Champions League ban partly because UEFA’s own rules state that alleged breaches that occurred more than five years previously cannot be investigated and punished: they were what is known as time-barred.

The Premier League does not have such restrictions, which could be taken as a sign of danger for City, but the club also overturned charges that were not time-barred and sources actually seemed to welcome the opportunity to clear their name without being accused of getting off on a technicality.

While City would not be able to appeal against any punishment to CAS this time around, in line with Premier League rules, there is an appeals process available to both the club and the league. A new independent panel would be called and evidence provided again — hence why this could take years.

There will inevitably be a period of uncertainty for City. Representatives of some players note that the club might find it difficult to enter into or continue contract negotiations with some players given the potential punishments on the horizon. Ilkay Gundogan’s deal expires this summer, for example, while those of Nathan Ake and Aymeric Laporte run out in 2025 and they would normally be in line for a renewal around now, should they be happy to stay.



However, City continued to press ahead with transfer plans while appealing against their UEFA punishments in 2020, communicating their confidence to players and their representatives that they had done nothing wrong and would eventually be cleared.

People involved in some of those deals say they were convinced by City’s message and were happy to proceed with negotiations and eventually complete a transfer. It was the same message they conveyed to Lionel Messi as they tried to sign him from Barcelona, a move that only collapsed later in the year for other reasons.

The club are likely to press ahead with contract and transfer plans in the coming months, just as they did last time. In fact, meetings continued on Monday.

Their targets this time will have to decide whether to commit their future to the club, and there is no doubt the charges represent a serious threat to City’s reputation and even their Premier League status.

Guardiola will speak to the media on Friday and only he will decide whether to go on the offensive, as he did last Friday when he recalled nine teams who co-signed a letter to CAS, or keep his counsel.

There will be huge interest in what he has to say and there will be a cloud over their upcoming matches, but City will try to carry on under awkward, yet familiar, circumstances.

(Top photo: Getty Images; design: Sam Richardson)

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