Man City chairman Mubarak releases statement as FFP case tipped to ‘spiral out of control’

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak insists the club is ‘confident’ it will ‘prove its innocence’ despite being found guilty of the vast majority of the 115 financial charges brought against them, while ex-Liverpool director Christian Purslow has warned of the damaging effects of the case across the English game.

David Ornstein revealed on Friday that City have been found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges launched by the Premier League in February 2023. An independent panel heard the case for 10 weeks in September 2024 following a four-year investigation by the Premier League.

City are alleged to have misreported their finances between 2009 and 2018, such as inflating sponsorship revenue to hide payments made by the club’s owners, breaching rules over player wages, and paying a manager – widely thought to be Roberto Mancini – a higher salary via a secret contract.

City vehemently deny the charges and are planning an appeal as they look to clear their name.

Mubarak has today (Saturday) released a statement that hits out at those trying to ‘undermine the momentum’ of the club.

‘I have been part of this Club for 18 years,’ he wrote. ‘I have had the privilege to stand with you in the Etihad, at Wembley, and in Istanbul. This Club matters to me, and you have shown and told me – time and time again – how much Manchester City matters to you. This is why I am writing to you today.

‘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. 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.

‘There are so many things that I would like to be able to share with you to help you understand why we feel so confident in our position. But the strict confidentiality of the legal process and our determination to respect it means I cannot do that at the moment. Even this letter underwent several legal checks to make sure it complies.

‘I ask you to please carefully read the statement below, which we gave on Friday, and the statement we issued in February 2023 (also below). Every word matters and holds true.

‘While some people have been quick to reach their own conclusions, and there is so much noise swirling around us, nothing has changed. We have faced challenges together before and have prevailed. There remain many who want to undermine the momentum of our Club. We will not give them that opportunity.

‘We have some exciting moments to look forward to after this international break. We travel to Anfield in a fortnight, and then host Paris St Germain in the Champions League back at Etihad Stadium – moments that give us an opportunity to celebrate the strength of the Manchester City family.

‘Thank you, as always, for your constant support.’

Man City want case ‘free from partisan influence’

On Friday, City released the following statement: ‘The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality. As such Manchester City FC’s position remains consistent with the Club’s statement of February 2023.

‘The Club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League Board and Executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence.’

In a February 2023 statement, City said they were ‘surprised’ by the Premier League’s initial charges, stating that they have ‘irrefutable evidence’ to clear their name.

During an appearance on Radio 4’s Today programme, former Liverpool, Chelsea and Aston Villa chief Purslow sent a stark warning about the impacts of the case.

“It’s a sort of ‘where does this end?’ because if you look at every single season – the nine seasons which we now know Manchester City breached rules – then all of their 19 Premier League rivals in that season, to differing extents, suffered easy-to-compute loss. Whether it was a place in the Premier League – every place was worth £3m,” he said.

“Teams that came fifth who didn’t make the Champions League maybe lost tens of millions of pounds – and of course teams that were relegated. Let’s say the team that finished 18th would’ve finished 17th if Manchester City weren’t there. And they, of course, suffered huge loss.

“If you add all those claims up, over nine years, and that’s just in the Premier League, you can see that the potential here for this to spiral out of control is huge.”

Purslow added: “I really hope that common sense prevails here and that there is a comprehensive solution between the authorities and Manchester City that looks at all these issues and tries to draw a line in the sand. Because a never-ending waterfall of legal claims and uncertainties for another four or five years would be absolutely appalling for the game.”