Manchester City have been charged by the Premier League after they released a statement on Monday surrounding a number of financial breaches. It comes after an investigation into the six-time champions spanning four years has finally posted their findings.
Manchester City offered a response to the allegations, claiming in a statement: "Manchester City FC is surprised by the issuing of these alleged breaches of the Premier League Rules, particularly given the extensive engagement and vast amount of detailed materials that the EPL has been provided with.
"The Club welcomes the review of this matter by an independent Commission, to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position. As such we look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all."
The matter will now be referred to a Commission for further scrutiny.
The full Premier League statement reads: "In accordance with Premier League Rule W.82.1, the Premier League confirms that it has today referred a number of alleged breaches of the Premier League Rules by Manchester City Football Club (Club) to a Commission under Premier League Rule W.3.4."
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The statement goes on to list said breaches with five separate points made on the rulings, before adding: "Commissions are independent of the Premier League and member clubs. The members of the Commission will be appointed by the independent Chair of the Premier League Judicial Panel, in accordance with Premier League Rules W.19, W.20 and W.26.
"The proceedings before the Commission will, in accordance with Premier League Rule W.82, be confidential and heard in private. Under Premier League Rule W.82.2, the Commission’s final award will be published on the Premier League’s website. This confirmation is made in accordance with Premier League Rule W.82.1. The Premier League will be making no further comment in respect of this matter until further notice."
While this process could take even longer to find an outcome for, given the due process of having an individual panel work through the case, the Times writer Martyn Ziegler reports that punishment for any breaches could be as severe as point deductions in the Premier League.
The investigation into Manchester City began in 2018 after German outlet Der Spiegel published documents from Football Leaks, which was a compiled resource of information from computer hacker Rui Pinto. The report stated several rule breaches which led to UEFA banning the club from European competition for two years along with a fine.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport subsequently overturned this decision and the club were allowed to compete in Europe again, taking a reduction on the fine paid too. City have consistently denied any wrongdoing when it came to their finances, with the past year seeing them record a new high for revenues across the world of football.
It remains to be seen whether any of these breaches for the period stated will be upheld by the commission or if any punishment will follow and it is likely that it will be some time before any outcome is reached.
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