Ferran Soriano was not expected to speak. When the Manchester City chief executive asked for the floor at the climax of an EFC executive board meeting in Copenhagen on Monday, the willingness to address a verdict the club itself has not officially acknowledged took other members of the board by surprise.
Around the table were Jean-Claude Blanc, head of INEOS Sport and chief of international football relations at Manchester United, and Everton owner Dan Friedkin. Both represent clubs that stand to gain if the sanction imposed on City is severe.
Soriano kept the intervention short. He told the room the case had been running for eight years and would take much longer still, according to reporting on the private session.
“It has taken eight years to reach this point and it will still take much more time,” he said.
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He added that he disagreed with the independent commission’s ruling and remained confident City would prevail. Approached by Sky Sports on his way out, he declined to answer questions.
The verdict City has not confirmed
Soriano’s decision to speak at all is what made the moment unusual. Neither the Premier League nor Manchester City has issued a formal statement confirming the outcome, first reported on 25 September by David Ornstein at The Athletic: an independent panel finding City guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought against them in February 2023.
The alleged breaches span the period from 2009 to 2018 and cover inaccurate financial reporting, undisclosed payments to players and a manager, profitability and sustainability rules and, separately, failure to cooperate with the Premier League’s investigation. The sanction has yet to be set. Options that have been publicly discussed range from a fine to a points deduction, relegation or expulsion from the Premier League.
Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak addressed supporters over the weekend, saying the club remained “confident that it will prove its innocence” and that the Premier League process still had a long way to run.
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Rivals are already lining up
Four Premier League clubs have positioned themselves to move quickly if the verdict is upheld. Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham lodged formal legal notices in November 2024 reserving the right to claim compensation, a step taken on legal advice tied to the six-year limitation window under English law.
Each of the four clubs could seek more than £100m, according to reporting cited by GiveMeSport, with the combined figure potentially exceeding £200m. Any civil action would follow rather than run alongside City’s appeal against the ruling itself.
Inside Copenhagen there is frustration at the silence. One club source, quoted in coverage of the meeting, said: “All we have is a void, and it would be better for everyone if it was filled as soon as possible.”
Both sides have 14 days to appeal once the sanctions decision is handed down.
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