More than £200m. That is the compensation figure being attached to Manchester City’s guilty verdict, delivered by an independent commission on Friday.
City were found to have breached 114 of 115 Premier League financial charges, covering the 2009-10 to 2017-18 seasons and ending a case that began in February 2023.
The Premier League has not yet announced a sporting sanction. City are expected to lodge an appeal within the required 14-day window. But the case’s second front, running through the league’s own arbitration process rather than the disciplinary panel, may prove costlier than any fine.
The legal shield lodged in November 2024
Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur lodged formal legal notices in November 2024 to preserve their right to seek compensation should City be found to have broken the rules, The Athletic’s David Ornstein reports.
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Under English law’s six-year statute of limitations, waiting for a verdict, which came almost three years after the hearing concluded, would have wiped out any claim tied to the earliest affected seasons.
Ornstein wrote after the ruling: “Legal firms have been contacting clubs to inform them that they would be in a position to claim compensation if Manchester City are found to have breached the Premier League’s rules.”
He added that those discussions are “now intensifying.”
More than £200m in play
The combined figure of “more than £200m” comes from The Independent’s Miguel Delaney. Estimates run higher when Champions League revenue is factored in for the seasons in which rivals argue they should have qualified above City.
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The individual cases would centre on specific seasons. Manchester United finished second to City in 2011-12 and 2017-18. Liverpool finished two points behind them in 2013-14. Tottenham, whose Champions League qualification hopes were repeatedly obstructed during the period, would build their case on lost broadcasting and prize money across multiple campaigns.
Arsenal, Everton and Chelsea have also been named as potential claimants, alongside relegated clubs from the period such as Stoke City, Swansea and Sunderland.
Section W and the Everton precedent
Compensation between Premier League clubs does not run through the courts by default. Under Section W of the league’s competition rules, disputes over lost earnings between member clubs are handled through internal arbitration.
There is already a working template. Everton were ordered to pay Burnley £35m in June, £26m in damages plus £9.1m in interest, for a profitability and sustainability breach that Burnley argued had contributed to their 2021-22 relegation. It was the first time one Premier League club had been ordered to pay another for such losses. Everton are appealing.
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That case covered a single relegated season. City’s charges cover nine.
Fourteen days to appeal
No club has filed a compensation claim, and any formal action is expected to wait until City’s appeal has run its course. The club must lodge that appeal by 9 October 2026. An appeal panel will then be appointed, with the hearing expected to conclude within 12 weeks.
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