Manchester: Manchester City expressed both astonishment and disappointment on Tuesday following the publication of a Premier League Commission verdict that upheld a series of financial charges against the club.

In an official statement, the club maintained that it is innocent of the accusations brought by the Premier League, insisting that a comprehensive body of indisputable evidence supports its stance. The club stated it would pursue all appropriate regulatory and legal avenues relentlessly, describing the opinion as unsafe and marred by clear material errors concerning law, principle, and fact.

Furthermore, the club noted that it had diligently respected due process over an eight-year period, operating on the assumption that the Premier League Board and Executive would function as an independent, impartial, and fair-minded regulator free from partisan influence. Given that the disciplinary process remains ongoing and incomplete, the club indicated it is restricted from commenting further at this stage.

According to the independent panel’s verdict released on Tuesday, City was found guilty of almost all of the unprecedented 100-plus charges levelled against the club over a nine-year timeframe, a period during which the Abu Dhabi-backed outfit transformed the landscape of elite English football.

The alleged financial misconduct amounted to more than 900 million pounds. Premier League chief executive Richard Masters asserted that the ruling demonstrated that City had systematically breached league regulations for nearly a decade, calling the disciplinary case and decision the most significant in the competition's history.

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The club now confronts severe potential penalties, which could encompass a substantial points deduction or expulsion from the division, threatening considerable reputational harm to its Abu Dhabi ownership. The Premier League announced that sanctions will be determined during a separate hearing convened by the independent commission, with no date yet specified. Any appeal by City must be lodged by Friday.

In an internal video addressed to club personnel and obtained by Sky News, chief executive Ferran Soriano contested the validity of the verdict. He stated that the entire case rested upon a single false allegation, that the owner's personal funds were covertly channelled into the club via Abu Dhabi sponsors, which he maintained was entirely untrue and contradicted by the evidence submitted to the commission.

The explosive decision follows reports from the previous week anticipating that the charges would be upheld following an exhaustive examination. The Premier League initiated proceedings over three years ago, with allegations first surfacing in 2018 from leaked internal communications and documents.

The investigation encompassed a raft of financial violations spanning from 2009 to 2018, an era in which the club emerged as a dominant global force, capturing multiple league titles and the Champions League trophy. The infractions included failures to submit accurate financial data, the provision of inflated figures for Abu Dhabi sponsorship agreements, concealment of payments, and breaches of domestic and UEFA financial stability regulations designed to curb excessive spending. Additionally, City faced multiple charges relating to a failure to cooperate with the investigation between 2018 and 2023.

The league detailed that Manchester City arranged sham contracts with various commercial partners that misrepresented true agreements, alongside relying on other sham arrangements to artificially inflate revenue and diminish costs. Consequently, the club filed misstated accounts and withheld its true financial standing from auditors and regulators.

The inquiry concluded that these schemes were designed to artificially boost revenues and lower expenditures by upwards of 900 million pounds during the affected years, enabling the club to appear compliant with financial controls while assembling star-studded squads fueled by Abu Dhabi investment.

The verdict is anticipated to trigger considerable turbulence within English football, including potential legal claims for compensation from rival clubs impacted by City's actions. Questions also surround the future commitment of star players such as Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki, as well as Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE deputy prime minister and member of the Abu Dhabi royal family who acquired the club in 2008.

Throughout the proceedings, City has consistently proclaimed its innocence, with chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak affirming confidence over the weekend in the club's position. Potential appeals could ultimately reach the High Court in London if the club deems the regulatory process unfair or partial.

Meanwhile, football officials in Australia stated they would monitor the fallout, noting that it remains premature to raise concerns regarding A-League club Melbourne City FC, which has operated under the City Football Group umbrella since 2014. Australian Professional League chief executive Steve Rosich observed that while the international football economy is deeply interconnected, the APL had never investigated Melbourne City's financial affairs and would await further developments in the legal process.