Manchester City will claim major sponsorship deals were funded by the Abu Dhabi government, rather than the club’s owners, in an appeal after being found guilty of breaking financial rules.
It was confirmed on Tuesday that an independent commission had found City guilty of all charges relating to breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.
City have repeatedly denied culpability and signaled their intention to appeal by Friday.
The club was found to have artificially inflated its revenue through “fictitious” sponsorship deals with the help of its owners.
Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) – a private investment company owned by UAE Vice President and Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mansour – allegedly increased the value of trade deals in a “disguised financing scheme” to the tune of £830.69 million.
This, it was argued, allowed the club to appear to comply with the financial rules of the Premier League and UEFA.
However, as first reported by the Daily Mail and The Times, sources have told BBC Sport that City are expected to tell an appeals panel that they have evidence showing the money for sponsors came from the Abu Dhabi government, rather than ADUG.
The independent commission dismissed this argument as “false” in its findings, saying: “We concluded that this was an ‘explanation’ that the club concocted well after the event in an attempt to obscure and conceal the realities of the disguised financing plan.”
City said the commission’s decision contained “obvious material errors of law, principle and fact, and was dangerous.”
Mansour is a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi and brother of the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. ADUG took over City in 2008. Premier League rules allow public bodies to sponsor clubs.
On Saturday, City president Khaldoon Al Mubarak spoke of “irrefutable evidence” which he said supported the club’s claims of innocence.
City’s main sponsor Etihad Airways said it was considering legal action against the Premier League, saying publishing the commission’s findings had “damaging implications… although the airline is not named in the redacted published findings”.
The UAE’s national airline said “it categorically rejects any findings, conclusions or implications suggesting that the airline has ever been involved in improper commercial arrangements.”
Etihad belongs to the sovereign wealth fund L’Imad, chaired by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, son of the president of the United Arab Emirates.
The Premier League declined to comment when contacted by BBC Sport.
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