Man City’s £830m legal defence faces fresh setback after Etihad contradiction
Manchester City’s appeal against their financial verdict faces renewed scrutiny after evidence surrounding Etihad’s sponsorship appears to conflict with the club’s argument over who funded the deals.
Manchester City’s appeal against their Premier League financial verdict has been plunged into fresh controversy after evidence surrounding Etihad Airways appeared to undermine a central part of the club’s defence.
The independent commission found that City used commercial arrangements to artificially inflate revenue and reduce costs by more than £900 million between 2009/10 and 2017/18, with £830 million specifically linked to sponsorship revenue.
City disputes that finding and is expected to argue that Abu Dhabi government funding ultimately supported some of the sponsorship payments rather than owner Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group.
However, Etihad has previously insisted that its Manchester City sponsorship was funded from the airline’s own resources and was not subsidised by the Abu Dhabi government.
That creates an awkward contradiction for City, particularly because the club successfully challenged UEFA’s case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2020, where the Etihad-related charge was not established.
City has now lodged a comprehensive appeal, maintaining that the commission made serious errors of fact, law and principle and insisting it possesses evidence supporting its position. Etihad, meanwhile, has rejected implications of wrongdoing and is considering legal options over the Premier League findings.
The dispute is therefore moving beyond a battle over accounting and sponsorships, with conflicting explanations over the source of the money likely to become one of the most closely examined elements of City’s appeal.
