City were “adamant” they would not break Chelsea’s £140m record for a single-season loss as concerns grew over the club’s finances in 2009/10, according to the independent commission’s findings.
The detail provides further context to the £830m sponsorship arrangements at the heart of the commission’s ruling, which City strongly reject and intend to challenge on appeal.
City’s £140m concern revealed
The commission found that Man City had “real concern” their total losses for 2009/10 would exceed the record established by Chelsea in 2006.
“The Club was adamant it should not break [it],” the ruling says.
There were also concerns over substantial losses in the following five years and City’s ability to comply with UEFA’s developing Financial Fair Play rules.
The commission found that it was against this financial backdrop that City devised a plan to disguise shareholder funding as commercial partner revenue. It also concluded that using the scheme at the end of the 2009/10 financial year enabled City to avoid surpassing Chelsea’s £140m record loss.
Across the nine seasons examined, City recorded £949.94m in sponsorship income from Abu Dhabi companies. The commission found that £119.25m represented base fees paid by the sponsors, with the remaining £830.69m consisting of what it termed “tagged sums” funded by Abu Dhabi United Group, City’s owner.
Those findings formed part of the serious financial breaches confirmed by the Premier League this week. City reject the commission’s conclusions and intend to appeal.
The club have until Friday to exercise that right, meaning the commission’s findings remain subject to challenge.
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