Manchester City

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Kieran Maguire, Football finance expert on X: "The Premier League commission accuses some witnesses of giving false evidence and being dishonest."

Mark Ogden, senior writer for ESPN on X: "The wording of the Premier League statement is so brutal that if Manchester City fail to win their appeal, the sanctions will be enormous."

Former Manchester City chairman David Bernstein on Radio 5 Live: "It is damming beyond belief. My immediate thoughts are, should the board continue? Should the people involved be suspended immediately?

"Very, very serious. I think it's really terrible. There's a school of thought with lawyers that is deny, deny, deny, but this is a football club that is part of a league and the whole credibility of the league is at stake here.

"The sanctions cannot just be financial, so it's got to be way beyond that. If the appeal fails, Manchester City cannot stay in the league, they have to suffer. And I say that as a supporter and a fan."

Manchester City fan and host of the Blue Moon podcast, David Mooney on BBC Radio 5 Live: "The book needs to be thrown at the club at this stage. If they are not successful on appeal, they've lied to the fans, the football bodies, everyone. The outcome of that is that everyone has the right to be angry at them."

Manchester City fans, how are you feeling now the news has been confirmed? Tell us

If you had the impression that the saga over Manchester City's 115 charges was almost over, think again.

Two years since the hearing began, the Premier League has confirmed that City have been found guilty of all charges related to breaches of its financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.

City have said they are "innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League" and would pursue "appeal avenues open to it, on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe."

It appears the chaos and uncertainty is only going to increase now.

City fans, and the rest of football, are left to guess what the punishment might be. And when this all might reach a definitive conclusion.

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Manchester City have responded to the Premier League's confirmation that the club has been found guilty of breaching 115 financial rules.

City have until Friday to appeal the decision but in a statement said: "Manchester City FC is both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission, that has been published today.

"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.

"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.

"The club is obviously restricted in what it can say further until all future proceedings are complete."

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Manchester City arranged "sham contracts" with a number of its commercial partners as part of a scheme to disguise secret funding of more than £830m, the Premier League says.

The League confirmed that City have been found guilty of all charges related to breaches of Premier League financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.

An independent commission found that, during that time period, the club arranged the "sham contracts" as well as "relying on sham agreements to artificially inflate the club's revenues and reduce its costs".

The club continues to deny any wrongdoing and has until Friday to appeal.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said: "The core decision establishes the facts of what happened at Manchester City during this period. It details how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade.

"It also vindicates the Premier League's decision to pursue this case against Manchester City. While the process to date has been both long and difficult, the League has remained determined that the facts be established independently.

"It is a key responsibility of the Premier League to ensure that the Rules, approved by the clubs themselves, are upheld to protect the integrity of the competition. It is paramount that the League remains competitive and fair for all clubs and for the fans. We take that role extremely seriously.

"This disciplinary case, and this decision, are the most significant in Premier League history. There are elements of the case that remain to be decided, including, importantly, what sanction must follow for these breaches. Now we have the Commission's decision, we are committed to moving swiftly through the remainder of the process, to provide certainty for the League, our clubs and fans."

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Does financial cheating take away from sporting merit?

That's the question BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club has been debating after Manchester City were found guilty of the majority of their 115 financial rule breaches.

The club lifted eight trophies between 2009 and 2018, the nine-year period in which they are accused of breaching the Premier League's financial rules.

"There are going to be lots of grey areas in this one," former Chelsea player Pat Nevin said. "There is a great morality argument for other players to say: 'I deserved that and Manchester City took it off me'.

"I would love to know how much money is going to be spent by the Premier League on legal fees. This could all badly affect the English game.

"I'm sure all of these financial rules were brought in with the best of intentions but, if it goes badly wrong, this could well be the biggest own-goal in football history."

Former Premier League winger Andros Townsend added: "We all want the right thing to be done, but I do worry about the integrity of the league if the past 10 years are wiped out all of a sudden.

"The Premier League would become a laughing stock, but obviously the right thing has to be done in a legal sense."

Former Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart admitted: "I can't get involved in the ifs, buts and maybes. I know what we did, I know what I did and I know what happened.

"Right now, I'm very confident and proud of what we achieved as a team. That won't change until someone tells me otherwise."

There was plenty of praise for Manchester City fans' "brilliant attitude" towards the situation away from the main debate, with Nevin particularly impressed by their graciousness.

"I've absolutely loved not hearing a sense of entitlement from the fans," he added. "They have been telling me: 'Yes we had great times, but if it all goes wrong then we have to accept it. If we end up in another division, we will still be there supporting our team'.

"I've actually been quite moved by the way they have been commenting on it."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

It is the biggest disciplinary case in Premier League history.

The outcome will define top-flight football in the 2010s - as well as this decade.

It is a battle between Manchester City and the Premier League - but who will prevail?

Last week, round one went to the Premier League as an independent panel found City guilty of the majority of the 115 charges they faced.

But we still don't know what the punishment might be, and City will appeal.

The chaos is set to continue.

It's a complex picture, and details of the case stretch back 17 years.

Here, we piece together City's on-field endeavours with the alleged wrongdoing to lay out the timeline.

Manchester City will put a hefty price tag on striker Erling Haaland if they end up being relegated from the Premier League over financial rule breaches. (Football Insider), external

Chelsea, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona are among the teams interested in Haaland and watching City's situation amid the possibility of sanctions. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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Unbelievably, sensible and well-informed people are seriously discussing Manchester City getting a huge points deduction or being demoted or kicked out of the English leagues completely.

‌There is also reasonable talk about them being sued by just about every other major club in the domestic game, and a few beyond that. That is before you get to the concept of titles being stripped and trophies retrospectively re-awarded to others.

There is still an appeal to be heard, but they have been found guilty already. Serious consequences must be considered. Following the draconian punishments handed to Everton and Nottingham Forest, among others, City might find they don't just have the book thrown at them, it is the entire British Library lobbed in their general direction.

Those other clubs cooperated in the process. City have faced more charges and they involve larger sums and over a longer time period. In short, things are not looking good for the club that dominated English football for almost a decade.

This may be the biggest story in the Premier League's history and it is going to run and run.

Other serious considerations will follow hard on the heels of the Blues' dilemmas – specifically what long-term effects will this have on the Premier League? They will not all be good ones.

Some reasonably argue that the financial rules City have been found to have broken shouldn't have been put there in the first place. They were brought in to safeguard the financial security of the clubs and the league, but try telling that to many City, Everton and Nottingham Forest fans just now.

Newcastle and Aston Villa have plenty of financial backing, but these rules have hurt their ability to grow and stay competitive with the legacy clubs. This all feels unfair if you are a supporter of those two.

The money that will now be frittered away by the English game on lawyers and legal fees is eye-watering, and it will grow exponentially as the litigation increases.

Pat Nevin writes weekly in the Football Extra newsletter. If you're outside the UK and would like to receive it, sign up here.

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The news on Friday, broken by The Athletic, external, that Manchester City were found guilty of the vast majority of 115 breaches of financial rules they had been accused of by the Premier League has sent English football into a frenzy.

Two years and 10 days since the hearing began, and 1,329 days after City were charged, we now know a verdict has been reached. But, if you were getting the impression that the saga was almost over, think again.

So, what has happened? And what could happen next? Here is a recap:

• Premier League clubs are seeking legal advice about compensation

• Key questions answered on what comes next

• City fans face up the guilty verdict

• Former City midfielder Rodri believes in City's 'innocence'

• No Premier League appetite to strip Man City of titles - but threat remains

• City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak says he is still confident of proving the club's innocence

• The day after the news broke, City players Marc Guehi and Nico O'Reilly made uncharacteristic mistakes in England's loss to Spain

• Roberto Mancini says an alleged "double contract" during his time as Manchester City manager is "not my concern" and maintained the club "has not been found guilty"

And finally, what scenarios could now play out after the guilty verdict?

Manchester City fan and content creator Steven McInerney said the news of his side being guilty of financial rule breaches "hit me like a tonne of bricks".

McInerney said City fans should have "hope" as the club awaits the outcome of an appeal.

He explained: "This club, which has given me so much love and joy over the past 40 years, will still come from this untarnished, because I have to feel that way.

"I can only trust that the chairman's words and Guardiola's conviction in the press conferences were based on something."

Although McInerney has "hope", he added "clarity" is lacking for fans to make their overall verdict on the allegations.

"I have only ever wanted the truth to come out," he added.

"There isn't a lot of clarity on this subject, I entirely understand this urge to crucify Manchester City. I get it. As a fan of a rival side, I would feel the same way, but we don't yet know the full picture.

"We don't know yet what Man City have been found guilty of and until that moment I am going to hold my nerve a little bit.

"If it comes out Man City are found guilty of all these serious allegations, then, of course, the punishment would be very severe. There is no escaping that, and I wouldn't ever deny that as an eventuality, but it is a weird feeling for City fans."

The last time City featured in the Championship was during the 2001-02 campaign, under Kevin Keegan.

"To sit here and have so much uncertainty around it, it is weird," said McInerney.

"I am not scared of the eventuality that City drop down the division. Guess what, we have been there before.

"If I'm honest, that was an awful lot of fun. City fans will turn up, they will back their club and we will have a good time."

Hit play below to hear the first episode in full or listen on BBC Sounds here

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An agreement made by Premier League sides means that all cases involving the league and its clubs are conducted in England and Wales and in accordance with English law.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport [Cas] being based in Lausanne, Switzerland means it is not permitted to get involved in cases such as the Manchester City charges.

The Premier League has its own arbitration panel which can hear cases on a narrow number of factors as the last point of contest, rather than Cas, as stated in sections W97 and X.2.4 of the Premier League's handbook.

A similar agreement is in place for clubs in the English Football League, meaning legal issues in the Championship, League One and League Two must be settled domestically.

Read more on how Cas works within sport here