Explosive Revelation: Man City Under UEFA Investigation for Allegedly Masking £30m Payment as Sponsorship

The adjudicatory committee of UEFA's Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) has found that two payments of £15m received by Manchester City from a broker were actually funds provided by the club's owners, disguised as sponsorship revenue. This conclusion, outlined in their report, led to the decision made in February 2020 to impose a two-year suspension on City from participating in European competitions.

The report remained unpublished as the club lodged an appeal against the decision. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) subsequently overturned the verdict of the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB). However, the makers of a YouTube film that was released on Thursday managed to obtain the report, which has also been viewed by The Times. When contacted by the PA news agency on Friday, UEFA declined to comment on the report.

According to The Times, City's lawyers informed a UEFA disciplinary hearing that two £15m sponsorship payments from telecommunications firm Etisalat in 2012 and 2013 were made by a broker named Jaber Mohammed. It was also revealed that Etisalat repaid the money to City's owners in 2015. The adjudicatory committee of the CFCB reached the conclusion that arrangements were made to disguise the true purpose of equity funding through payments made by Jaber Mohammed totaling £30 million, which were attributed to the sponsorship obligations of Etisalat. These arrangements were carried out by ADUG, a private equity fund controlled by City owner Sheikh Mansour.

The club's management was aware that Jaber Mohamed's payments of £30 million were intended as equity funding, not as sponsorship liabilities. CAS overturned the two-year suspension in July 2020 and stated that UEFA should not have addressed the charges concerning Etisalat due to the expiration of the five-year time limit.

It is unclear if the Etisalat payments are included in the ongoing case against City by the Premier League. City is facing 115 charges for alleged violations of the league's financial rules and for not cooperating with the investigation. If the payments are part of the case, there would be no time limitation. The CAS panel in the same ruling also expressed doubts about City disguising equity funding from Sheikh Mansour or ADUG as sponsorship contributions from the Etihad airline.

There is a lack of evidence to establish any arrangements between MCFC, HHSM (Sheikh Mansour), and/or ADUG, or between HHSM and/or ADUG and Etihad, or direct funding from HHSM and/or ADUG towards Etihad's sponsorship obligations. As a result, the majority of the panel concludes that UEFA's theory of disguised equity funding is not supported.

The city has not commented on the recent report, but it is believed that they have concerns regarding the funding source and motivations of those who supported the new YouTube film. Limited information is available regarding Sunrise Media, the company responsible for the film, as it was registered in the British Virgin Islands on June 9th.