Al Mubarak tells City supporters to hold judgement as reported financial ruling looms

By Reuters

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has told supporters the club remains determined to prove its "innocence" over alleged Premier League financial rule violations, days after media reports suggested an independent panel had found the club guilty of 114 breaches.

Speaking in an open letter to supporters published on Saturday, Al Mubarak said the regulatory process was "far from over" and insisted the club's confidence in establishing its innocence "is just as strong as when this began". The intervention marks the first public response from the club's chairman to reporting that has thrust one of English football's most successful clubs back into crisis mode.

The reported verdict follows a case that has run for years and has periodically dominated English football coverage since City were first accused of overstating revenues and failing to properly account for sponsorship deals and academy costs. City have always denied wrongdoing, maintaining that the Premier League's financial rules were applied to them in a way the club considered unfair and inconsistent.

Writing to fans, Al Mubarak acknowledged that the club's supporters had been unsettled by the reporting. "Following Friday's media reporting, many of you will have spent your evening answering questions and responding to messages from friends, family and colleagues. So have I," he said. He added: "Here’s what I said to my family: The Premier League process still has a long way to run and our confidence and intent in proving the club’s innocence is just as strong as when this began."

City are expected to appeal the decision of the independent panel, a step that would take the dispute into a new phase and potentially beyond the Premier League's own disciplinary system. An appeal would almost certainly extend the legal timetable, meaning any final reckoning — including any potential sanctions — would remain some distance away.

The scale of the reported outcome, if confirmed, would rank among the most consequential rulings in the history of English football sport. Any sanction arising from it could reshape the financial regulatory landscape that governs the Premier League, raise fresh questions about competitive integrity, and test the league's willingness and ability to enforce its own rules against a member.

The charges relate to alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules, a framework introduced to protect the integrity of competition by restricting clubs from injecting related-party funding into their accounts to circumvent spending limits and, in City's case, to buy players in ways critics argued distorted the market.

Al Mubarak said he was constrained in what he could say because of the strict confidentiality surrounding the legal process — a point that has shaped the club's public posture throughout the dispute. "Even this letter underwent several legal checks to make sure it complies," he told supporters, adding that he urged them to read carefully the statement the club issued on Friday as well as the detailed response it published in February 2023, both of which were included in the letter. "Every word matters and holds true."

The February 2023 statement was the club's first substantive public response to the allegations. In it, City said it was surprised by the alleged breaches, "particularly given the extensive engagement and vast amount of detailed materials that the EPL (English Premier League) has been provided with". The club also welcomed the review by an independent commission, saying it would "impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position."

City reiterated that position on Friday, repeating its denial and its insistence that the evidence it has supplied supports its case.

The Premier League has declined to comment on the reports, with a spokesperson saying only: "It's a confidential process, we're not commenting at all." That reticence has contributed to the gap between what is being reported and what has been officially confirmed, and it is the reason the club is urging supporters to wait.

Al Mubarak asked for patience, saying that while many people had been quick to reach their own conclusions amid "so much noise swirling around us", nothing had changed. "We have faced challenges together before and have prevailed," he said. "There remain many who want to undermine the momentum of our club. We will not give them that opportunity."

The episode arrives at a delicate moment for the club beyond the legal arena. Any finding against City is likely to be seized on by rival clubs and supporters who have long argued that the club's compliance division, City Football Group, gives it structural advantages in the transfer market that other teams cannot match. It is also likely to intensify debate over whether the Premier League's regulatory apparatus is fit for purpose, particularly given how long the process has taken to reach this stage.

For City, the coming weeks will be defined by procedural steps rather than rhetorical ones. The club's next meaningful moves — lodging any appeal and seeking permission to disclose more of the panel's reasoning — will set the pace of the dispute and determine when, if ever, supporters get a definitive answer. Until then, the chairman's appeal for patience is likely to be tested by a fixture list that must also be played, and a squad that must perform, in the middle of the most serious threat to the club's standing in a generation.