ISLAMABAD (AP) — Mountaineers, diplomats and members of civil society gathered in Pakistan’s capital Tuesday evening for a candlelight vigil honoring 10 climbers killed in an avalanche on Broad Peak, as rescuers described an arduous mission to bring their fellow climbers down from one of the world’s highest mountains.
Rain fell as mourners lit candles and prayed for the dead, shielding the flickering flames from the downpour as they gathered on the open lawns of a sports complex in Islamabad to remember the climbers who never returned from the mountain.
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Participant's shadows visible over an poster with the pictures of 10 climbers who lost their lives on Broad Peak during a candlelight vigil in their memory, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
People attend a candlelight vigil in memory of 10 climbers who lost their lives on Broad Peak, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Nepalese Ambassador to Pakistan Rita Dhital, left, and others place flowers next to pictures of climbers who lost their lives on Broad Peak, during a candlelight vigil in their memory, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Nepalese Ambassador to Pakistan Rita Dhital, center, delivers her speech during a candlelight vigil in memory of 10 climbers who lost their lives on Broad Peak, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Candles burn next to pictures of climbers who lost their lives on Broad Peak during a candlelight vigil in their memory, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
The vigil came days after search teams ended an operation that recovered the remains of eight climbers. Two bodies have not yet been recovered.
Among the dead was renowned British-Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja. Nepal lost six climbers in the July 30 disaster, when a massive avalanche struck an international expedition.
Nepal’s ambassador to Pakistan, Rita Dhital, joined the vigil and paid tribute to the climbers as candles were lit in their memory. She recalled meeting Purja at her Islamabad home before the expedition and said he would often tell her, “Giving up is not in my blood.”
She thanked Pakistani climbers and rescuers who went onto the mountain in dangerous weather to search for the missing climbers and recover their bodies. Dhital particularly praised renowned Pakistani mountaineer Sirbaz Khan, who led the recovery team, as well as the Alpine Club of Pakistan, the military and government officials involved in the operation.
The bodies of all six Nepalese climbers have been returned to their families, she said.
Khan told The Associated Press that he and his team had set out hoping they would find the missing climbers alive. “I had hoped that I would hug them after finding them alive,” he said. Instead, the rescuers found climbers buried beneath the avalanche. Khan said the team used shovels to dig through the snow and pull out the bodies one by one.
Seeing fellow mountaineers dead on the mountain was difficult, he said, but the rescuers composed themselves and began the equally difficult task of bringing the bodies down, using ropes and makeshift stretchers. Khan said he remained deeply saddened by the deaths but took some solace in knowing that families who had waited desperately for news were able to receive the remains of their loved ones.
Irfan Arshad Khan, president of the Alpine Club of Pakistan and no relation to the rescuer, said the remains of seven climbers, including all six from Nepal, had been repatriated. He said bad weather repeatedly prevented helicopters from reaching the accident site, forcing rescuers to continue much of the search and recovery operation on foot. Eight bodies were eventually brought to a location from where they could be airlifted, he said.
“We have gathered here today to commemorate the passing of our great comrades,” Khan told those attending the vigil. He said the days following the avalanche tested not only the endurance of those searching the mountain but also the courage of rescuers who continued on foot when helicopters could not reach them.
The international expedition included climbers from Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, China, Britain and the United States.
Broad Peak, which rises 8,051 meters (26,414 feet) above sea level in the Karakoram range, is the world’s 12th-highest mountain and lies near K2, the world’s second-highest peak.
Mountaineering accidents are common in northern Pakistan, home to some of the world’s highest mountains.
Participant's shadows visible over an poster with the pictures of 10 climbers who lost their lives on Broad Peak during a candlelight vigil in their memory, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
People attend a candlelight vigil in memory of 10 climbers who lost their lives on Broad Peak, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Nepalese Ambassador to Pakistan Rita Dhital, left, and others place flowers next to pictures of climbers who lost their lives on Broad Peak, during a candlelight vigil in their memory, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Nepalese Ambassador to Pakistan Rita Dhital, center, delivers her speech during a candlelight vigil in memory of 10 climbers who lost their lives on Broad Peak, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Candles burn next to pictures of climbers who lost their lives on Broad Peak during a candlelight vigil in their memory, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City artificially inflated its revenue by more than $1 billion over nearly a decade, circumventing fair-play rules that restricted rival clubs and allowing it to pad its roster with some of soccer’s biggest stars, an investigatory panel found in a bombshell report published Tuesday.
In what is widely viewed as the biggest scandal in Premier League history, the independent panel determined that the United Arab Emirates-backed team committed almost all of the 115-plus violations it was accused of during a period in which City changed the landscape of the world’s most popular soccer league. That included 80 from 2009-18 for alleged financial misdeeds and another 35 from 2018-23 for allegedly not cooperating with the investigation.
City’s alleged financial wrongdoing -- made possible in part through what the league said were “sham” commercial deals -- was worth more than 900 million pounds ($1.19 billion). Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said the ruling showed that City “systematically broke Premier League rules for nearly a decade.”
“This disciplinary case, and this decision, are the most significant in Premier League history,” Masters said.
City now faces severe sanctions that could include a huge points deduction or even expulsion from the league, causing heavy reputational damage to its Abu Dhabi ownership.
The Premier League said sanctions will be decided during a separate hearing held by the independent commission at an unspecified date.
City has always denied wrongdoing and said in a statement that it was “disappointed and surprised” by the ruling. It plans to appeal the verdict and said it would be “relentless” in its fight to clear its name, which would further drag out a case that has already run for more than three years.
Any appeal by City would have to be made by Friday, the league said.
In an internal video to City staff — obtained by broadcaster Sky News — the club's CEO, Ferran Soriano, went into detail about why he felt the verdict was wrong.
“This has gone on for so long that it is 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,” he said. “This is just not true. Irrefutable evidence has been provided to the Premier League commission that shows it could not happen and that it did not happen."
The allegations first arose in 2018 from leaked club emails and documents, and the Premier League initiated its case more than three years ago. Tuesday’s findings come after it emerged last week that the accusations against City were expected to be upheld following an exhaustive process.
City is accused of providing misleading information about its finances over a nine-year period from 2009-18 — a span in which it emerged from the shadow of its crosstown rival, Manchester United, won three titles and signed some of the world’s best players, including Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne.
The violations included failing to provide accurate financial information and submitting inflated figures for sponsorship deals out of Abu Dhabi, hiding payments and breaching financial rules established by the Premier League and UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, intended to keep clubs financially stable by not spending beyond their means.
On top of that, City faced many other charges of failing to cooperate with the investigation between 2018-23.
"An independent commission has found Manchester City guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period,” the league said, “and the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the league’s investigation.”
Regarding the sponsorship deals, the league said: “Manchester City arranged ‘sham’ contracts (which misrepresented the true agreement between the parties) with a number of its commercial partners, as well as relying on ‘sham’ agreements with others, to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs.
“The club,” the league added, “filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators.”
The purpose of City's “schemes” was to “artificially inflate the club’s revenues, and reduce its costs, by more than £900 million ($1.19 billion) during the affected period, to appear to comply with financial rules,” the league said.
The finding suggests that City’s rise to the top of the English game, fueled by investments from Abu Dhabi that delivered by its expensively assembled, star-studded squads, was achieved at least in part by evading the league’s financial regulations.
The panel's findings have plunged English soccer into chaos, with rival clubs calling for compensation for lost earnings and threatening to sue, and fans and even some other teams' players wondering whether City should be stripped of titles.
There’s also the question of whether City’s top stars, like Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki, will stay at the club and what the future holds for Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He is the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family who bought City in 2008 and has gone on to own a group of worldwide teams — under the City Football Group banner — including New York City FC and Melbourne City.
City has always maintained its innocence, saying in 2023 when the charges were laid that there was a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position.”
Even over the weekend, City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said there remained a ”confidence and intent in proving the club’s innocence.”
The appeal could end up in the High Court in London if City feels the process in the case was unfair.
On Wednesday league officials in Australia said they’d wait to see how the fallout from Manchester City’s financial situation develops, believing it’s too early to raise concern around A-League club Melbourne City FC, which has been owned by the City Football Group since 2014.
Australian Professional League chief executive Steve Rosich said the APL, which operates the top domestic men’s and women’s competitions, had never investigated Melbourne City regarding its financial matters.
“No it doesn’t concern us,” Rosich said. “There is further work to follow and findings to follow in the legal process, so we’ll consider that. The international football economy is intertwined, so all parties will be reviewing that.”
See AP’s full soccer coverage here
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FILE - A groundsman disinfects a corner flag ahead of the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Burnley at Etihad Stadium, in Manchester, England, Monday, June 22, 2020. (AP Photo/Martin Rickett,Pool, File)
FILE - A banner celebrating their title win is illuminated outside Manchester City's Etihad stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday, May 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)
FILE - The club logo decorates a corner flag before the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)
