Spanish newspaper "AS" revealed massive financial details contained in the final ruling of the independent commission that examined the Manchester City case, after the commission concluded that the club was guilty of committing financial breaches over nine seasons, between 2009 and 2018.
According to the ruling, Manchester City recorded approximately £949.94 million as commercial revenue.
However, the commission concluded that £830.69 million of this amount were not genuine commercial revenues, but rather capital contributions from the owning group that had been recorded as sponsorship returns.
According to the report, the true value of sponsorship returns during that period amounted to only £119.25 million.
Over £920 million in accounts
The breaches did not stop at inflating revenues; the commission also concluded that the club understated or omitted expenses by more than £920 million.
These accounts included around £24.5 million in operating expenses described by the commission as "fictitious," along with other amounts that were undervalued or excluded from the accounts.
According to "AS," the final result was an inflation of revenues and a reduction of costs totaling approximately £920.7 million, which exceeds one billion euros.
"Fictitious" contracts and inaccurate accounts
The independent commission concluded that Manchester City used contracts described in the ruling as "fictitious," including agreements with several commercial partners, with the aim of inflating the club's revenues and reducing its costs.
It also concluded that the club submitted inaccurate accounts and concealed the true financial situation from auditors and football governing bodies, which led to breaches of the spending limits set by the Premier League and UEFA.
The Premier League had announced that the independent commission found Manchester City guilty on all charges related to serious financial breaches, in addition to convicting it on most charges concerning failure to cooperate with the investigation.
Huge discrepancy in sponsorship revenues
The figures contained in the report reveal a significant gap between the revenues declared by the club and those considered real by the commission.
In the 2009-2010 season, Manchester City declared £27 million as sponsorship revenue, while the true value was estimated at only £4.5 million.
In the 2012-2013 season, declared revenues rose to £121.75 million, against only £16 million considered real revenue by the commission.
By the 2017-2018 season, declared revenues reached £145.73 million, against only £11 million as the true value according to the ruling's conclusions.
Across the nine seasons, the difference between the recorded commercial revenues and the value considered real by the commission exceeded £830 million.
These details come following the issuance of the independent commission's final ruling, while Manchester City intends to appeal the decision, affirming its objection to the commission's findings and insisting on the existence of evidence proving its position.
