---
title: "Sir Richard Leese makes emphatic Man City claim after Premier League ruling"
canonical: "https://readmancity.com/2026/10/19/sir-richard-leese-man-city-premier-league-appeal/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Gary Gowers"
section: "Man City News"
published: "2026-10-19T07:22:39Z"
modified: "2026-10-19T07:22:40Z"
---

# Sir Richard Leese makes emphatic Man City claim after Premier League ruling

**Former Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese says he believes** [**Man City**](https://readmancity.com/) **over the Premier League as the club pursues its appeal against the findings in its financial case.**

Leese, a City supporter and honorary president of the club, made the comments during a wide-ranging [Manchester Evening News investigation](https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/) into Abu Dhabi investment and its role in the regeneration of Manchester. City are appealing against an independent commission’s findings over serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules, with the club continuing to deny wrongdoing.

Asked about the findings against City, Leese pointed to the club’s insistence that it will clear its name and questioned the process which produced the decision.

“The club have said they are innocent and that they are going to prove their innocence,” he said. “This finding has come from one of the most opaque processes I have ever encountered, a sort of quasi-legal entity.”

## Leese backs Man City over Premier League

Leese, who led Manchester City Council for 25 years until 2021, argued that there remains limited public knowledge about the commission and the evidence it considered.

“We don’t know who they are and we don’t know if they have any credibility,” he said. “We have limited knowledge of the evidence they have received.”

Leese also described the Premier League as “lacking credibility” before making his own position on the dispute explicit. “At the moment the club are clearly saying they are innocent. If you want to know who I believe, the football club or the Premier League? I believe the football club.”

His comments represent a strongly supportive view rather than an independent assessment of City’s prospects on appeal. The club must now persuade an independent Appeal Board that there are sufficient grounds to overturn or vary the commission’s findings, with the proceedings taking place in private.

Leese’s longstanding association with City provides important context to his intervention, but his criticism adds another prominent Manchester voice to the wider debate surrounding the club and its challenge to the Premier League decision.

***For all the latest Man City news, analysis and updates, visit our [Man City news page](https://readmancity.com/news/).***