Ferran Soriano is a Spanish businessman who is chief executive officer of City Football Group, according to the group's website, and is also described as Manchester City's chief executive in BBC Sport reporting. Before joining Manchester City in 2012 he was vice-president for the economy and general manager of FC Barcelona from 2003 to 2008, after earlier roles in consumer goods, telecommunications and management consulting.
Case
An independent commission found Manchester City arranged "sham" sponsorship contracts to disguise owner funding between 2009/10 and 2017/18. City denies it, says the decision is unsafe and will appeal. As of October 1, 2026, no sanction has been set.
Role at the time: Manchester City chief executive, in an internal video message to staff
Response to this claim
Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano said in a video to staff on September 29, 2026 that the Premier League case against the club "is based on a single false accusation" that the owner's personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club through sponsors from Abu Dhabi, and that bank statements, money transfers and witnesses show "the money did not come from the owner."
“This has gone on for so long that it's important to remind ourselves that the whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation. That the owner's personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi. This is just not true. Irrefutable evidence has been provided to the Premier League Commission that shows that it could not happen and that it did not happen. This includes bank statements, money transfers, witnesses and everything necessary to categorically demonstrate the money did not come from the owner. Every other false charge that has been thrown at us and aggressively marketed and promoted comes from that simple, central and completely false accusation. Surprisingly for us and for our lawyers, after nearly two years, the Premier League Commission has issued an opinion that supports the Premier League's conspiracy theory. To do so, the opinion had to actually ignore the extensive evidence provided by the club in order to reach a conclusion that is clearly wrong.”
Relative to the proposition that City used sponsorship contracts the commission described as shams, and related arrangements, to misstate its finances and circumvent the Premier League's financial rules, as the commission found, Soriano calls the central accusation false ("This is just not true") and the commission's conclusion "clearly wrong." That is a flat rejection of the finding, so we used Denied. The closest competing label is Challenges the characterization, because he calls the league's case a "conspiracy theory" and the decision an "opinion," but he goes beyond disputing labels and says the owner's money did not enter the club.
Statement dates: September 29, 2026
Statement dates: September 29, 2026
