Premier League · Liverpool vs Man City · 2026-09-30 12:01 UTC
Independent commission finds Manchester City used a 'Disguised Funding Scheme' to mask Abu Dhabi shareholder equity as sponsorship revenue.
Polymarket when the story was published: Liverpool 39% · Draw 26% · Man City 39%
It is estimated that almost half a billion pounds in equity contributions were made in the first two years of Abu Dhabi United Group’s (ADUG) ownership. This was not a sustainable model. Manchester City needed to raise commercial revenue if they were to avoid record losses and comply with European football governing body UEFA’s financial regulations. “It was against that background that in early 2010, the club devised a plan to disguise shareholder funding (i.e equity contributions paid by ADUG) as ‘commercial partner revenue’ (i.e Abu Dhabi sponsorship income),” the independent commission explains, “what we have described… as the Disguised Funding Scheme”. This involved entering into sponsorship agreements with Abu Dhabi-based companies that were priced “well above Fair Market Value”. The value of these sponsorship agreements, in addition to being inflated, was not fully paid by the sponsor, either. The independent commission established they only paid a “base sum”. The balance or “tagged sum” — i.e the rest of the money — “would be payable (and was in fact paid) by ADUG”. @JamesHorncastle 🔗
Source: @TheAthleticFC on X