La Liga president Javier Tebas has issued a sharp criticism of Manchester City after reports that an independent Premier League commission found the club guilty of 114 of 115 financial charges, insisting that football’s integrity depends on “equal rules for all”.
The verdict, first reported by The Athletic on 25 September and later confirmed by the Premier League, relates to alleged breaches between the 2009–10 and 2017–18 seasons, including failures to provide accurate financial information and to co-operate with investigations.
Tebas described the outcome as “extraordinarily damaging” to confidence in European football’s economic oversight and reiterated his long-standing opposition to what he calls “financial doping”.
“Now, almost nine years after those words at Soccerex, an independent Premier League commission has deemed 114 of the 115 financial breaches charged against Manchester City proven, according to the published reports,” he said in an online statement, linking the case to his 2017 warnings about Gulf-backed wealth distorting competition.
The scale of the findings is unprecedented in Premier League history. The charges include 54 counts of failing to provide accurate financial information, 14 counts relating to player and manager payments, five UEFA FFP breaches, seven profit-and-sustainability violations, and 35 counts of failing to co-operate with the league’s investigation.
No sanctions have yet been imposed, and City are expected to appeal any punishment, which could range from fines and points deductions to title stripping or even expulsion.
Tebas’s comments echo his stance from 2017, when he led the charge against clubs leveraging external wealth to bypass financial constraints.
“Economic sustainability is not bureaucracy,” he stated bluntly. “Financial control is not a whim.”
For Tebas, the issue is not about singling out City but about enforcing a model where clubs compete on merit—not on the back of opaque financial engineering.
The implications stretch beyond Manchester. If City’s titles are at risk, the precedent sets a dangerous precedent for other clubs accused of similar practices.
The Premier League’s financial rules, already criticized for their complexity, now face scrutiny over their enforcement.
Tebas’s call for “equal rules for all” is not just a reaction to this case but a warning about the future.
Without stricter oversight and greater transparency, the game risks becoming a playground for those who can afford to game the system.
The verdict on City is final in law, but the debate over football’s economic future has only just begun.
