Manchester City have until Friday to appeal against the independent Commission's findings in the Premier League's case against them, and say they will do so. The league confirmed on Tuesday that the Commission had found City guilty of all the charges relating to breaches of its financial rules between 2009/10 and 2017/18, and of three of the four charges that they failed to co-operate with its investigation. No sanction has been imposed.

City reject the findings. In a statement on Tuesday, the club said it was innocent of the league's accusations and would pursue the appeal avenues open to it, because the Commission's opinion "contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe". It added that it was restricted in what it could say until all future proceedings are complete.

The confirmation follows The Athletic's report on Friday that City had been found guilty on 114 of the 115 charges. The league's own summary gives no count out of 115. The published decision groups the case into financial charges, all of which were proved, and four charges of non-cooperation. One of those four was not proved, and another was proved in most, but not all, of the respects alleged.

What the Commission found

According to the league, the Commission found that City arranged "sham" contracts with a number of commercial partners, and relied on "sham" agreements with others, to inflate revenue and reduce costs by more than £900 million across the nine seasons. It found that sponsors were required to pay only part of the recorded fees, with the rest funded by Abu Dhabi United Group, the club's owner. It also found that City filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of their finances from auditors and regulators. Had the accounts been accurate, the Commission concluded, City would have breached both the league's and UEFA's spending limits by a very substantial amount.

The Commission also concluded that evidence from a number of important witnesses called by City was false in key respects, and that some of them knew it to be untrue. It rejected City's criticisms of how the league had investigated and brought the case.

Richard Masters, the league's chief executive, said the decision vindicated the case, and that elements remained to be decided, including the sanction.

This disciplinary case, and this decision, are the most significant in Premier League history.

Richard Masters, Premier League chief executive, Tuesday 29 September

What happens next

The sanction will be decided by the same Commission at a separate hearing, held in private until the outcome can be published. No date has been given. Under the league's rules the Commission has broad discretion, and its non-exhaustive list of sanctions includes fines, points deductions and other sporting sanctions. Sky Sports reported that any sanction could apply this season. The precedents are set out in our report from Friday.

An appeal would go to a three-person Appeal Board, appointed by the chair of the league's Judicial Panel, Sir Gary Hickinbottom, and chaired by a member who has held judicial office. It can allow the appeal, dismiss it or vary the Commission's order. City cannot take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but Sky Sports reported that they could go to the High Court to argue that the process was not fair and impartial.

Only a redacted version of the core decision has been published so far, with the Commission members' names removed. The league says it will publish the appendices as soon as it can. It can publish the decision at all because the Commission ruled, and an Appeal Board confirmed, that it is a final award. The investigation began in December 2018, and the charges were brought in February 2023. They were heard over 42 days, ending in December 2024. The Commission wrote that its decision had taken much longer than it would have wished.

On the pitch, nothing has changed yet. City are top of the table with 15 points from five games, and return from the international break at Anfield on 11 October.