Manchester City football club is facing an investigation into its finances by England’s Premier League, risking a point deduction could dash its title chances and see it miss out on qualification for Europe’s lucrative Champions League Is.
A commission set up by the world’s biggest football league will investigate alleged financial breaches soon after Manchester City was taken over by a group of Abu Dhabi-linked companies in 2009, according to a website statement.
The alleged breaches apply to four different sets of rules, including the reporting of its finances as well as the disclosure of manager salaries. The club is also accused of breaking rules on how it cooperated with the Premier League in its investigation from 2018 to date.
Under Premier League rules the club can be deducted points, suspended, or in extreme cases expelled. The commission is independent of the Premier League and its clubs, and proceedings will be conducted in private.
Manchester City, which has won the Premier League four times in the past five years, made a statement via its website saying the club was “appalled” by the allegation of an alleged breach of Premier League rules.
“The club welcomes a review of this matter by an independent commission, to objectively consider the extensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position,” it said. “As such we look forward to putting this matter to rest once and for all.”
Manchester City has become one of the biggest football clubs in the world, topping Deloitte’s league table of the biggest European football clubs for the second year running ahead of illustrious rivals Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Two years ago, Manchester City were banned from the Champions League for two seasons by UEFA after it was found they had misled Europe’s governing body and breached its financial fair play rules. But the ban was later lifted after an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
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