Football Leaks Hacker Threatens More Files Against Manchester City Ahead of 115 FFP Breaches Hearing

Football Leaks Hacker Threatens More Files Against Manchester City Ahead of 115 FFP Breaches Hearing

Elijah Odetokun
June 23, 2024 at 10:48 AM
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  • Manchester City are due for a hearing in November before an independent commission over their 115 FFP breaches
  • City were alleged of 115 financial fair play breaches by the Premier League in 2023, and a hearing date has been set
  • The hacker who released their leaked emails has threatened to release more to prove the club cheated intentionally

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Manchester City may be in more trouble ahead of their financial fair play breaches hearing after the hacker who exposed them in 2018 threatened to release more files.

City were alleged to have breached financial fair play 115 times by the Premier League in 2023. The club denied all allegations and instituted their legal defence.

Pep Guardiola, Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, City Ground, Premier League.
Pep Guardiola looks dejected during Manchester City's match against Nottingham Forest at City Ground on April 28, 2024. Photo by Alex Livesey.
Source: Getty Images

The league's board has punished Everton and Nottingham Forest with points deductions from the time City were charged, raising eyebrows about the integrity of the rules.

Hacker threatens more files against Man City

According to Sun Sport, football leaks hacker Rui Pinto has threatened to release more files to prove that the English champions deliberately cheated the rules.

Pinto, who has been in witness protection since 2020, confirmed via video call that he has handed millions of emails to French and German authorities with more details on the City.

Breakdown of Man City's 115 charges

The 115 charges against the club are broken down into five major categories as analysed by BBC Sports.

  1. 54x Failure to provide accurate financial information 2009-10 to 2017-18.
  2. 14x Failure to provide accurate details for player and manager payments from 2009-10 to 2017-18.
  3. 5x Failure to comply with UEFA's rules, including Financial Fair Play (FFP) 2013-14 to 2017-18.
  4. 7x Breaching Premier League's PSR rules 2015-16 to 2017-18.
  5. 35x Failure to cooperate with Premier League investigations December 2018 - Feb 2023.

The Citizens were hit with a two-window ban by UEFA and fined them £25 million in 2020 for FFP breaches, but it was reduced to only the fine after the appeal, and this sets a precedent for what their punishment could be.

Why Manchester City sued the Premier League

Sports Brief previously reported on why Manchester City sued the Premier League after they were alleged to have breached the financial fair play rules 115 times.

The champions instituted legal action against the league to fight their innocence, among other reasons, which bordered on avoiding punishments for the charges.

Authors
Elijah Odetokun photo
Elijah Odetokun
Elijah Odetokun is Reuters-trained journalist with three years of experience having previously worked at Daily Times Nigeria, OmaSports and El Futbolero.