Manchester City embroiled in $38m fake sponsorship scandal

Allegations surfaced that Manchester City accepted $38 million in illegal funds from a “mystery” sponsorship in the United Arab Emirates. The “Britain’s Biggest Football Scandal?” documentary highlighted the unreleased report from UEFA’s Club Financial Control Board.

UEFA completed an official report in 2020 according to widespread opinion. However, the governing body never released the information. The investigation claims that the 2012 and 2013 payments made up for funds that were originally expected to arrive from one of City’s big sponsors.

UEFA officials, according to the documentary, City received $19 million in two installments in 2012 and 2013. That consisted of nonexistent sponsorship money. The FA cited these money transfers as evidence in February. Back then, it accused the club of breaking 115 financial regulations set by the Premier League.

Manchester City sponsorship scandal latest financial hiccup

Other claims say the club paid former manager Roberto Mancini a total of $4.72 million. Just $1.83 million came on the club’s books. The rest was from Al Jazira Sports and Cultural Club. The owner of Al Jazira is City’s majority shareholder, Sheikh Mansour.

UEFA questioned a club attorney and identified “Jaber Mohamed” as the payer. The governing body characterized him as “a person in the business of providing financial and brokering services to commercial entities in the UAE.”

City escaped Champions League ban prior to winning it

A four-year investigation investigating their actions from 2015/16 to 2017/18 led to the club being found guilty this winter. The Premier League then sent the case to an impartial panel. Following investigations, the English side faced charges of ‘serious breaches’ of financial fair play regulations. This was during the period from 2012 to 2016.

Consequently, they received a two-year ban from the UEFA Champions League. However, the club chose to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which ultimately overturned the ban and reduced the associated fine from $38 million to $13 million.

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