Man City's 'irrefutable evidence' in 115 charges case disclosed for the first time
The "irrefutable evidence" Manchester City have consistently referred to in their unsuccessful 115 charges case with the Premier League has been disclosed for the first time.
After reports from David Ornstein in The Athletic on Friday, it was later confirmed that City were found guilty of all charges by an independent commission in the the biggest bombshell decision in Premier League history.
The 40-page verdict, released on Tuesday, said that City in the period between 2009 and 2018, City arranged "sham contracts "and relied "on sham agreements to artificially inflate the club's revenues and reduce its costs".
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It was stated that the club did this to the tune of £380million to get around financial rules and disguised funding.
City are facing major sanctions such as points deductions, expulsion from the Premier League and having titles stripped - while the case could have wider political implications.
Man City's 'irrefutable evidence' emerges as they prepare to appeal Premier League guilty verdict
City, who have protested the innocence throughout the process, have until Friday to appeal the outcome and are expected to do so.
According to Mike Keegan of the Daily Mail, they will attempt win their case and prove their innocence by showing that it was the government of Abu Dhabi who own the sponsors and not the City owners Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) topping up funds.
This argument will see them claim that no rules were broken as sponsorship deals with government-funded companies have been extremely frequent in the Premier League and are legal.
Revealed for the first time, the evidence which City have spoken about and was referred to by CEO Ferran Soriano in his defiant video message is government bank statements and witness statements to show the way in which the funds were transferred.
This evidence, highlighting that the process saw money being transferred to sponsors from government accounts, and then used by sponsors to pay City, was presented in the three-month hearing which saw more than 700 pages of statements and lasted more than two years.
The commission concluded that this argument was "concocted well after the event in an attempt to obscure and conceal the realities of the disguised funding scheme".
The idea that owner and royal family member Sheikh Mansour was unaware of £830million of his money being used for deals branded "sham" - and the word it self - is set to be part of City's appeal.
In addition, City's legal team are also poised to delve into the time it took for the verdict to be announced and the fact they had considerably more witnesses, whereas the Premier League did not
call upon "anyone who confirmed the existence of the alleged conspiracy", as per the report.
Man City's response to hacked emails which built Premier League case against them
The case against City stems from leaked emails obtained by Rui Pinto, a whistleblower who shared a series of confidential club documents on his website, Football Leaks.
Many of these leaks were serialised in the German website Der Spiegel. These hacked emails which involve figures high up at City involve discussions on the transferring of funds, with one from then-City financial chief financial officer Jorge Chumillas reading: "I need to understand the mechanism by which additional sponsorship flows through ADUG. Is it ADUG Shareholder->ADUG->Etihad->MCFC? Or is it rather ADUG Shareholder->Etihad->MCFC?'".
City say that these emails are false assumptions from staff based in Manchester.
Etihad Airways, who sponsor City's kits and stadium, have threatened legal action.
The Abu-Dhabi airline, which is state-owned, wrote a statement in which they said the company "categorically rejects any finding, conclusion or implication that suggests the airline has ever been involved in improper commercial arrangements".
Topics: Man City, Premier League
Josh Lawless