Manchester City found guilty of majority of 115 charges as football's biggest case heads for appeal

Manchester City have been found guilty of the majority of the 115 charges they faced in what is the biggest disciplinary case in Premier League history — a verdict that will define top-flight football in the 2010s, as well as this decade. Round one of the battle between the club and the Premier League went to the competition's rulers last week, but the saga is far from over: the punishment is still unknown, City will appeal, and the chaos is set to continue.

It is a complex picture, with details of the case stretching back 17 years — from the Abu Dhabi takeover that changed the face of English football, to the arrival of financial fair play and the sponsor deals at the heart of the allegations. Here, the on-field endeavours are pieced together with the alleged wrongdoing to lay out the timeline.

The key players

• Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim — the public face of the Abu Dhabi United Group's deal to buy Manchester City in 2008, fronting negotiations with the club's previous owners. He was later sentenced to five years in jail for stealing £5m from his wife to buy Portsmouth — a club he owned for six weeks in 2009.
• Khaldoon al-Mubarak (chairman) — an Emirati official who holds several senior positions within the government of Abu Dhabi, he has been City's chairman since the 2008 takeover. The 51-year-old is also chairman of City Football Group (CFG), the parent company of the Premier League club.
• Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan (owner) — the vice-president and deputy prime minister of the UAE and a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, he has owned City since a £200m takeover in 2008. Der Spiegel alleged in 2018 that Sheikh Mansour provided monetary supplements to existing deals with sponsors in Abu Dhabi to invest more money into the club.
• Garry Cook (chief executive) — appointed in May 2008 under the club's previous owners, he resigned in 2012 over claims he emailed the mother of defender Nedum Onuoha, mocking her for saying she was ravaged with cancer.
• Simon Pearce (director) — a member of City's board since 2008 and a senior adviser to the Executive Affairs Authority, the Abu Dhabi government agency that advises UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He is also vice-chairman of Melbourne City FC, another CFG-owned club.
• Jorge Chumillas (chief financial officer) — Der Spiegel claimed it had seen an email written by City's then CFO showing club officials discussed how to wipe out a £9.9m shortfall in 2013 and circumvent FFP regulations.

A blue moon rising

The joke was that Robinho didn't know which Manchester club he was signing for, while others suggested he had been lured by the cash on offer in the blue half of the city.

"He's a great kid, but badly advised," scoffed Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon of the 24-year-old.

Regardless, the Brazilian's arrival at Manchester City for a British record transfer fee on 1 September 2008 was a statement of intent from Abu Dhabi United Group on the day it agreed to take the club off Thaksin Shinawatra's hands — and in doing so changed the face of English football forever.

The new owners "bulldozed through the Premier League's established order with a display of financial firepower that stunned Manchester United and left Chelsea bruised and humiliated", wrote BBC Sport's chief football writer Phil McNulty of the Robinho coup. And there would be more to come.

"We really have deep pockets," said Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim, fronting the takeover. "Our goal is to make this football club one of the best not just in England but also in the world. To reach that goal there is no limit."

But as City committed to a spending spree to the tune of more than £100m in summer 2009 — snaring Carlos Tevez from neighbours Manchester United and Emmanuel Adebayor from Arsenal — European football's governing body, Uefa, was becoming increasingly concerned by the finances of its clubs. Of almost 650 top-flight clubs across 53 member nations, a Uefa report found more than half were operating at a loss. Financial fair play (FFP) was about to enter the football lexicon.

"The rules basically say, 'You cannot spend more than you generate'. They will reward those who play within the rules and have a sound and sustainable business model," insisted Uefa's general secretary at the time, Gianni Infantino. Then president Michel Platini said the new laws, to be applied from 2011, would stamp out "financial doping" within football.

Mancini takes over — and a 'second income' claim emerges

Mark Hughes' appointment as City boss predated the new owners by three months, but come December 2009, for Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the City board, it was time to pull the plug. They had backed the Welshman with £200m worth of talent in 18 months, despite failed bids for John Terry, Samuel Eto'o and Kaka.

Roberto Mancini, who watched Hughes' last hurrah as City boss from the stands, immediately replaced him, kicking off his tenure with a Boxing Day win over Stoke City. The move had the desired impact on City's form, but they were pipped to Champions League qualification by Tottenham Hotspur. Amid rumours City could dispense with Mancini, chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak insisted his job was safe. The Italian, meanwhile, said: "I am not a magician and I don't have a magic wand."

Mancini may not have had a magic wand — but according to German magazine Der Spiegel's report from the Football Leaks website, which was run by Portuguese whistleblower Rui Pinto and released a cache of confidential documents to the media, he did have a second income. In an alleged attempt to circumvent Uefa's impending FFP rules, it is claimed Mancini was handed a lucrative deal as a consultant for Al Jazira Sports and Cultural Club in the Arabian Gulf League, owned by Sheikh Mansour, worth £1.75m for a minimum of four days' work per year — and more than his annual basic contract at City. Mancini, like Manchester City, has always denied any wrongdoing.

'There is a blue moon rising'

Over at Old Trafford, a banner reading "35 years" could be seen mocking City, ticking over every season since United's rivals had last won something. Mancini vowed to take it down after his arrival in east Manchester, and finally banish Sir Alex Ferguson's claims City were "all talk".

After another £100m+ summer injection of talent — adding Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli, Yaya Toure, David Silva and James Milner to the squad, along with defenders Jerome Boateng and Aleksandar Kolarov — Mancini did just that. The Italian set about proving the City hierarchy right to stick with him by beating United in the FA Cup semi-final en route to ending the Citizens' trophy drought in May 2011. Hours after United swept to a 19th league title, and with City assured of Champions League football for the first time, Mancini's side beat Stoke at Wembley to win their first major prize since the 1976 League Cup.

"This could be a turning point for us," claimed the boss, as City players revealed their own "00 years" banner. "There is a blue moon rising," added another banner shown by the expectant fans.

AGUEROOOOO — and the FFP clock starts ticking

The story's next chapter belongs to Sergio Aguero and the most iconic moment in the club's modern history — his famous stoppage-time strike that sealed City's first league title in 44 years. But after a summer celebrating their first trophy in 35 years, City were also preparing for life in the Champions League as Uefa's FFP regulations took hold. That meant clubs were required to balance their books over three-year cycles, starting from 2011-12, with the first deadline in 2013.

With losses of £123.3m the previous season, City would have fallen foul of the new guidelines. And what would the punishment be for non-compliance? "The atomic bomb is a ban from European competition," threatened Uefa's Jean-Luc Dehaene.

That same summer, City's Eastlands home got a new name. Etihad Stadium was born as the club signed a 10-year deal with the Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways airline — already their shirt sponsor — worth up to £400m.

What happens next?

With the independent panel having found City guilty of the majority of the 115 charges, attention now turns to what sanction will follow — and to City's appeal. The Premier League, City and football's lawmakers have fought this battle for years, and with the punishment still to be determined, the biggest disciplinary case in the competition's history is set to run and run.