Man City to appeal guilty financial breach verdicts — SkimNews
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- Manchester City have until Friday, October 2 to lodge an appeal against the guilty verdict and have publicly stated they intend to do so.
- The independent commission found City guilty of "all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules" between 2009 and 2018, detailed in a bombshell Premier League statement and written judgement released Tuesday.
- City's formal response declared the opinion contains "clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe," and CEO Ferran Soriano told club employees the entire case rests on a "single false accusation" — that the owner's personal money was secretly funnelled into the club via sponsors from Abu Dhabi.
- The issue of sanction will be addressed separately in a further hearing with the independent commission, per the Premier League.
- The Premier League Board said its intention is that the full process, including any appeals, is "concluded as soon as possible."
- Public reaction cited in the coverage includes Roy Keane saying he'd put his City medals "in the bin" and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy suggesting the verdict could lead to Premier League expulsion.
Why it matters: City face a hard deadline of October 2 to appeal, but the underlying sanctions — potentially including expulsion, title-stripping, or points deductions — will be decided in a separate hearing the Premier League wants resolved quickly. The appeal will determine whether the guilty findings stand and what, if any, punishment follows a decade of alleged financial rule-breaking.
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