Manchester City chief Ferran Soriano responds ‘thank you’ to Premier League charges

Ferran Soriano, Manchester City’s chief executive, repeatedly declined to answer questions after an independent commission found the club guilty of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules over nine seasons.

The Premier League announced on Tuesday that Manchester City had been found to have committed all the alleged breaches relating to its financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.

The club was also found guilty of three of the four charges relating to its failure to co-operate with the league’s investigation.

A statement published by the Premier League said the independent commission concluded that Manchester City had entered into “sham” commercial agreements with a number of its partners during that period.

The commission said those contracts did not reflect the genuine agreements between the parties and were intended to artificially inflate the club’s revenue and reduce its costs. It also found that Manchester City had relied on other similar arrangements.

According to the commission, the club submitted inaccurate financial information and concealed the true state of its finances from auditors and football regulatory authorities.

It further concluded that Manchester City had significantly breached spending limits imposed by the Premier League and European football’s governing body, Uefa.

After the findings were announced, a Sky Sports reporter asked Soriano: “Do you apologise to football fans? The Premier League says ‘sham’ contracts, is this a ‘sham’ club?”

Soriano did not address the allegations and replied only: “Thank you.”

The reporter repeated the questions, but the Manchester City chief executive remained silent before responding once again: “Thank you.”

The exchange was shared by Sky News on 29 September 2026 alongside video of the questioning.

The Premier League said the findings covered the club’s conduct across the nine-season period from 2009-10 to 2017-18, as well as its response to the league’s investigation.