Manchester City have been reported to the European Union over alleged financial irregularities, according to the president of another European league.
City currently await the verdict of a hearing relating to alleged Premier League rules breaches. The hearing took place in front of an independent panel between September and December 2024.
The charges mainly relate to a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018 – all of which the club deny.
The Premier League club were initially accused of 115 alleged breaches. However, it has also been reported by The Times that the number may be as high as 130.
And City could also be set for another legal battle.
When he spoke to the media at The Financial Times’ Business of Football Summit on Thursday, La Liga president Javier Tebas accused the Premier League club of trying to “avoid rules”, according to The Athletic.
“All they do is they think about how they can avoid the rules and regulations,” said Tebas. “We have reported this to the European Union with facts and figures.”
Tebas, 62, has claimed the league filed a complaint about City’s alleged behaviour with the European Commission in July 2023.
La Liga president Javier Tebas
As reported by The Athletic “the Spanish league made the complaint a week after the commission introduced a rule banning companies that operate within the European Union (EU) from receiving foreign subsidies that distort the internal market”.
“We have reported Manchester City to the EU,” said Tebas via talkSPORT.
“Even though they are an English team, and not part of the EU, they still have commercial activities in Europe. We first made the complaint in July 2023 and there are now regulations in place allowing the EU to look at companies like City Football Group.
“There are two aspects. The first is checking Manchester City are not using other companies to cheat the system. The second element is a bigger battle to stop football ending up in the hands of State-owned entities without proper policing.”
“Our case against Manchester City relates to two things,” he added. “We take issue with some of the prices the club have paid. And we question who the club can saddle losses on other related companies that are not directly part of City Football Group.”
“I can’t speak to any sanctions for Manchester City on this matter yet,” explained Tebas. “All I can say is when a company in Europe, in general, is seen to have distorted the market, they often have to return funds. We want Manchester City to be sanctioned.
“The case is currently in the investigation phase. We haven’t had a reply yet. Remember, the EU have lots of cases.”
