The second set of alleged breaches also refers to requirements for a club to include full details of player remuneration within the relevant contracts, for the seasons 2010-11 to 2015-16 inclusive.
The third section deals with alleged breaches of Premier League rules requiring clubs to comply with UEFA financial fair play regulations, between 2013-14 to 2017-18.
The fourth set of alleged breaches relates to the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules in seasons 2015-16 to 2017-18 inclusive.
Finally, the club are alleged to have breached league rules requiring member clubs to co-operate with and assist the Premier League with its investigations, from December 2018 to date.
In a statement, the Premier League said: “In accordance with Premier League rule W.82.1, the Premier League confirms that it has today [February 6 2023] referred a number of alleged breaches of the Premier League rules by Manchester City Football Club to a commission under Premier League rule W.3.4.
“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.”
“Man City have been charged with breaking the Premier League’s financial fair play rules around 100 times over a nine-year period, which starts in 2009 and goes on until 2018.
“The Premier League’s financial fair play rules are designed to ensure clubs pretty much spend what they earn. You can get round that potentially by inflating how much you’re earning or hiding how much you are spending.
“According to the Premier League, Man City allegedly broke the rules over nine seasons. They didn’t provide accurate financial information.
“Allegedly they did not fully disclose the financial remunerations that was made to one of their managers over a four-year period. That is the suggestion that there was a secret contract so one of the managers that was getting paid much more than officially stated.
“They also allege that Man City didn’t comply with UEFA’s financial fair play rules over a five-year period. They also allege that Man City have not fully co-operated with the Premier League’s investigation.
“This is a very serious matter for Man City.
“In the past when they’ve been investigated by UEFA, they’ve always insisted they have done nothing wrong. In February 2020, they were banned by UEFA from European competition for two seasons and also fined €30m.
“They took that case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The ban was overturned and the fine was reduced to €10m. At the hearing, the panel found most of the breaches alleged were not established or the time was barred, which effectively means they happened too long ago for UEFA to do anything about them.
“Crucially, Premier League rules do not include time bar so when Man City defend themselves, they cannot say these alleged offences took place too long ago for you to be able to do anything about them.
“According to the Premier League rules, it can be a points deduction or even the threat of expulsion from the Premier League, although I think would be an extreme punishment.
“But if it was a points deduction, it would be a deduction that would be in the current season, so if they were found guilty in a future season, that’s when the points deduction would be applied.
“I don’t think it’s going to be anything that happens very quickly so I would discount the chances of anything happening this season. This investigation has already been going on for five years, so I don’t anticipate it being dealt with quickly. This is something that is going to go on for a long time yet.”
