Premier League Says Manchester City Inflated Revenues By $1 Billion Using 'Sham Contracts'

The Premier League issued a statement addressing the "serious breaches" of financial rules committed by Manchester City between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.

The league said Manchester City "arranged 'sham' contracts" with commercial partners and "filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances."

This was done to make sure City remained with the spending limits laid out by the Premier League and UEFA, which oversees the Champions League and other continental competitions.

The Premier League alleged City's balance sheet was off by £900 million (nearly $1.2 billion) during the period in question.

Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano declined to respond to questions from Sky News' Rob Harris about the Premier League's findings:

The club released its own statement, saying it's "both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission."

"The Club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case. The Club will therefore be relentless, and where necessary proactive, in any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums.

"The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements uncompleted. Manchester City FC will now pursue the appeal avenues open to it, on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe."

Manchester City won three Premier League titles and an FA Cup during the years that were scrutinized. While the club's most dominant period followed the 2017-18 season, the alleged financial breaches will have helped City lay the groundwork for Pep Guardiola's arrival in 2016 and everything it achieved with him in the dugout.

In terms of repercussions, retroactive action may not be all that satisfying for rival clubs.

Tony Pulis, who managed Stoke City in the 2011 FA Cup final, wrote in a BBC Sport column that "I still feel cheated."

"Whatever happens next, we won't ever get that day back and the chance to celebrate around Stoke-on-Trent with the cup and medals we so honestly fought for," he said. "After breaking the rules, Manchester City got to do that instead."

But the Premier League is likely to face plenty of pressure to levy a punishment that fits the alleged crimes.