Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano has sent a video message to staff vowing to ‘clear the club’s name’ after the Premier League confirmed they had been found ‘guilty of all charges related to serious breaches’ of its financial rules.

On Friday, Daily Mail Sport reported how City had been found guilty of a series of breaches over a nine-year, glittering period in their history, in a verdict which sent shockwaves through football and opened the door to huge penalties including possible expulsion. 

However, in a video message sent to staff on Tuesday, Soriano has urged the Premier League’s entire case against City was based on a ‘single false accusation’, claiming the commission ignored extensive ‘evidence’ submitted by the club.

Vowing to continue City’s legal fight in an effort to protect their reputation, he told staff: ‘The whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation – that the owner’s personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi.

‘This is just not true. Irrefutable evidence has been provided to the Premier League commission that shows it could not happen and that it did not happen. This includes bank statements, money transfers, witnesses and everything necessary to categorically demonstrate the money did not come from the owner.

Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano (right) has sent a video message to staff vowing to ‘clear the club’s name’ after the club was found guilty of breaking financial rules

In his message, Soriano vowed to continue City’s legal fight in a bid to protect their reputation

‘Every other false charge that has been thrown at us comes from that simple, central and completely false accusation.

‘Surprisingly for us and our lawyers after nearly two years the Premier League’s commission has issued an opinion that supports the Premier League’s conspiracy theory. 

‘To do so, the opinion had to ignore the extensive evidence provided by the club in order to reach a conclusion that is clearly wrong. Our lawyers will now file an appeal that sets out the opinion contains clear, material errors of law, principle and fact and that it is unsafe.

‘Remember, we have been here before. In 2020 we were also wrongly ruled against for many of the same issues. We appealed to CAS and we won. We will now be relentless in our work. 

‘We will focus on the independent appeal process and also all other legal avenues available to us in order tow in the case and we will take all necessary action to protect the club and seek compensation from any party that tries to damage it.’

Soriano went on to admit that the guilty verdict and appeal process will serve as a major distraction for staff both on and off the pitch. 

‘Now, and in the future, I know this can be a bit of a distraction but please remain focused on our business and taking care of our extended City family as we always do,’ he added.

‘Very soon we will look back at this as another time in our history when we dealt with adversity and overcame it together. Thank you.’

In the Premier League’s lengthy statement released on Tuesday, the top flight said City arranged ‘sham contracts (which misrepresented the true agreement between the parties) with a number of its commercial partners, as well as relying on “sham” agreements with others, to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs’. 

It also said the club falsely altered the financial picture at the Etihad to the tune of £900m.

City were found guilty of a series of breaches over a nine-year, glittering period in its history

According to the Premier League, the panel found that City had ‘filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators’. 

It added that the club was ‘significantly in breach of both the Premier League’s and UEFA’s spending limits’ during the time period in question, 2009-2018 when it won eight major trophies.

Deals with a number of sponsors were part of ‘a disguised funding scheme, whereby those companies were only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees’, the Premier League added, saying that ‘the remainder was funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club’.

The panel also found further ‘sham’ arrangements, funded by ADUG, which allowed City to record lower operating expenses that it incurred, along with a ‘sham’ circular arrangement with Fordham, an entity that purchased the club’s players’ image rights, that was funded by ADUG.

Soriano’s defiant video message was in keeping with the club’s reaction to the Premier League’s statement on Tuesday.

City, who have until Friday to appeal the verdict, said in a statement that they were ‘disappointed and surprised’, referring to the ‘opinion of the Premier League Commission’.

‘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, City added. ‘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 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.

Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League, said he is committed to moving ‘swiftly’ through the remainder of the process, which would be delayed by an appeal by City

‘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.’

Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League, 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.’