115 Charges: The Price of Manchester City’s Rise

The Etihad Stadium roared, but the scoreboard would not budge: Manchester City 0, Manchester United 0. It was April 30, 2012, and the first half was almost over. City needed a win to take control of the race for its first English league title in 44 years. Then, City midfielder David Silva swung in a corner kick. City centerback Vincent Kompany rose above the defenders and hammered a header into the net. 1-0. The crowd exploded as Kompany sprinted towards the stands. Two weeks later, City would be champion. Fourteen years later, the club could now be expelled from the Premier League over financial rule breaches, in a case involving 115 charges. 

In 2008, Sheikh Mansour, a royal from the United Arab Emirates, bought Manchester City. His investment helped bring in stars such as Silva and striker Sergio Agüero, who helped City win its first English league title in 44 years in 2012. Signing those players meant paying transfer fees to other clubs, as well as wages to the players. City had to report those costs alongside income from tickets, television deals, and sponsors. If its costs were higher than its income, the difference was a loss. Financial rules limited how much clubs could lose, so City needed enough income to stay within that limit. An owner’s investment could help cover losses, but it did not count as money the club earned. Sponsorship payments did, because businesses paid for advertising, such as putting their names on jerseys. Reporting an owner’s investment as sponsorship could make City’s losses look smaller and its spending appear to follow the rules.

As of October 20, 2026, City led the Premier League, England’s top soccer division, with seven wins from seven matches. Striker Erling Haaland scored twice and midfielder Phil Foden once in a 3-2 win over Ipswich on October 17. However, City could lose its place in the league. The league began investigating in December 2018 after leaked emails raised questions about the club’s finances. It brought 115 charges in February 2023, accusing City of making its income look higher and hiding some of what it spent to bypass spending rules. In September 2026, judges found City guilty on 114 of 115 charges.  No punishment has been decided yet.

The commission said some sponsors paid only part of the amounts shown in City’s accounts, and its owner supplied the rest, but the club listed the full payment as sponsorship. City also left out some expenses its owner paid on its behalf. The extra income it reported and the costs it left out added up to more than £900 million between 2009 and 2018, according to the league. The 115 charges cover these financial reports, unreported player and manager payments, spending rules, and failure to help investigators. Several charges also come from the same issue repeated over different seasons. 

Manchester City disputed that account. They say that the Abu Dhabi government, which owned the sponsors, helped fund their sponsorship deals. The extra money, City argued, did not come from The Abu Dhabi United Group, Mansour’s private investment company. In City’s perspective, these payments were genuine sponsorship income, rather than its owner’s money disguised as earnings. The commission rejected that explanation. City filed an appeal on October 1, saying the ruling had errors in the facts and the law. Since 2023, the club said it holds  irrefutable evidence proving its innocence and is seeking to overturn the decision. 

If the ruling stands, Manchester City could face a points deduction or expulsion from the Premier League. Teams earn three points for a win and one for a draw. A deduction at this point could cost City a title. A large enough deduction could leave it in the bottom three at season’s end, relegating it to the Championship, England’s second tier. Expulsion would remove City from the Premier League regardless of its results. 

The decision also has ramifications to clubs beyond Manchester City. In the 2023/24 season, Everton lost eight points and Nottingham Forest lost four for breaking rules on losses. Both were fighting to avoid relegation. Forest’s deduction pushed it into the bottom three, while Everton’s second penalty left it just two points above them. Their cases differ from City’s, but they show how financial rules have shaped a club’s season. Following those rules can mean selling a player or passing on a signing. If another club hides its costs to spend more, teams that stay within the limits face a disadvantage. City’s case will show how the league applies its financial rules to one of its most successful clubs and may set a precedent for how scandals like these are handled in the future. 

“Nobody can remove it, the feelings, the good moments, the bad moments,” said Pep Guardiola, City’s previous manager, in 2023. On that April night in 2012, Kompany’s header helped create one of those moments, bringing City closer to its first league title in 44 years. Fourteen years later, the club is defending the price of that success. Those celebrations are part of its history. The appeal and the punishment hearings will shape its future. City once fought to reach the top of the Premier League. It is now fighting to keep its place in it.