Premier League football club Manchester City has been found guilty of boosting its coffers by more than €1bn by arranging “sham contracts” with big name commercial partners.
The infringements to the league’s funding rules were found by an independent commission to have taken place between 2009 and 2018 – a time when the club experienced unprecedented success. So what did the club do with the money? And did this extraordinary level of funding drive its success?
The club is owned by sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the vice president and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates. Since taking over the club in 2008 his funds have helped turn it into a global brand.
The scandal was first uncovered by Rui Pinto, a Portuguese computer hacker and founder of the Football Leaks website. He passed the information to Der Spiegel and the German newspaper developed the story to the point that the Premier League took Manchester City to the independent commission to adjudicate on the allegations.
It’s a scandal that has rocked football.
So what happens now? The club denies all wrongdoing and an appeals process is open to it. Other clubs are demanding a stiff penalty for City though it is unclear what that might look like.
The Guardian’s investigations correspondent David Conn explains this turbulent week in the Premier League.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.
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