MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City plans to fight the Premier League for months if found guilty of alleged financial breaches in potentially the biggest scandal in English soccer history.
Reports Friday said an independent panel had upheld nearly all of the 100-plus financial charges against the club in a case that was initiated more than three years ago.
City did not confirm the decision, saying its case with the Premier League was “ongoing” and yet to be completed.
City, however, would appeal a guilty decision and the process would take several months, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity to respect confidentiality elements of the process.
The Athletic first reported that City has been found guilty of all but one of more than 100 charges laid by the Premier League, which accused the club in February 2023 of providing misleading information about its finances over a nine-year period from 2009-18. The report said the sanctions have not been decided and all possibilities remain open.
The BBC also reported the story.
In response, City said in a statement: “The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality.”
City added that its position “remains consistent” with previous comments about the case. The club has always denied the charges.
“The club has diligently respected due process for eight years,” City said, “on the basis that the Premier League board and executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence.”
City’s punishment could be a huge points deduction, and as extreme as expulsion from the Premier League.
When contacted by The Associated Press on Friday, the Premier League said it couldn’t comment on the reports.
City has always protested its innocence after supposed leaked emails and documents, likely hacked, were published starting in 2018 by German magazine Der Spiegel. The documents allegedly showed City tried to mask the source of revenue from deals tied to Abu Dhabi, whose ruling family bought the club in 2008 and has overseen the spending of hundreds of millions of dollars on some of the world’s best players over the following two decades.
City has been the most dominant team in England over the last 15 years, winning eight Premier League titles since 2012 as well as the Champions League in 2023. Over the period in question — 2009-18 — City won the league three times, in 2012, 2014 and 2018.
Friday's news comes after Pep Guardiola stood down as City manager at the end of last season following an unprecedented period of success.
Guardiola always maintained the club's innocence.
“What people accuse us of we do not agree with what they say,” he said in 2023.
On Friday, former Manchester United and England player Rio Ferdinand suggested City's titles should be expunged and awarded to the runner-up for each season in question.
“Another premier league medal to be added to the cabinet,” he posted on X in reference to City’s 2012 title win over United.
The Premier League competition has had financial fair play rules designed to ensure clubs essentially spend what they earn from deals that are assessed to determine if they are at legitimate market value. City had previously been accused by UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, of overstating sponsorship revenue to comply with Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.
In 2020, UEFA ruled City had committed “serious breaches” of FFP regulations from 2012-16. But a two-year ban was later overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport because allegations were either rejected or found to have happened too long ago to be investigated.
The Premier League charges came subsequently, after a four-year investigation. City was accused of more than 100 breaches including providing misleading information about its finances and failure to co-operate with the investigation.
Douglas reported from Sundsvall, Sweden
James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
See AP’s full soccer coverage here
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)
KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (AP) — Residents on Hawaii's Big Island were bracing Friday for potentially life-threatening and catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Nolo, while Mexico was still under the threat of Hurricane Polo as it headed toward the Baja Peninsula after bringing storm conditions to the southwestern coast.
Nolo was about 210 miles (338 kilometers) south of the Big Island on Friday morning and headed northeast, with tropical storm conditions expected to begin on land in the evening, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Forecasters warned eastern and southern areas of the island could see rainfall totals of 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 centimeters), with a maximum of 25 inches (64 centimeters). That was down from an earlier forecast of 15 to 30 inches (38 to 76 centimeters), with a maximum of 35 inches (89 centimeters). Peak winds on land were expected to hit up to 40 mph (64 kph), with gusts of up to 50 mph (80 kph).
Nolo was expected to strengthen to a major hurricane on Saturday.
“This rainfall could produce catastrophic life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain," the hurricane center said.
While Nolo was not forecast to directly hit the islands, heavy rainfall also was possible on Hawaii's other islands, the hurricane center said. Maui also could see heavy rainfall and potential life-threatening flooding and mudslides, forecasters said.
The hurricane's maximum sustained winds were 85 mph (137 kph) on Friday morning and expected to increase into the weekend.
Hawaii officials told residents to put together emergency kits and the governor issued an emergency proclamation, activating more than 230 Hawaii National Guard members. Schools were closed for the rest of the week.
The heaviest rain from Nolo is likely to fall over the same southeastern region of the Big Island that was hit in August by Hurricane Lala and where grounds are still wet from additional precipitation.
Hawaiian Electric, the state’s primary utility, said crews that had been helping restore power in Kauai after this month’s Hurricane Lowell would return to Oahu, Maui and the Big Island in preparation for the coming storm.
Residents and tourists on the Big Island were busy preparing.
“I guess that’d be my concern — whether we’re getting out of here or not, but, you know, as far as the weather goes, it is what it is," said Daniel Compton, who was visiting from Seattle.
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green requested an emergency disaster declaration for four Hawaii counties on Wednesday. The request is still pending approval from President Donald Trump. Approval would unlock federal dollars and support for immediate needs like emergency services and debris removal.
The hurricane center said Polo gained significant force overnight into Friday morning, when maximum sustained winds were estimated at 290 kph (180 mph). It remained well off the western Mexico coast heading westward, but is expected to turn to the north and reach the Baja California Peninsula late Sunday into Monday, the center said.
No major damage or flooding was reported along the coast overnight into Friday, although some towns in Colima and Michoacán were affected by tides.
Residents stacked sandbags to fortify beachfront shops and evacuated their homes in some coastal areas on Thursday. Mexican authorities were opening shelters and clearing people from beaches, and 15,000 security personnel were deployed across the coast. Schools were closed.
In the port city of Lázaro Cárdenas in Michoacán, seawater had already swept through homes Thursday and left wooden planks and furniture strewn on the streets. Locals and government officials were clearing out piles of wooden planks from a number of destroyed ramadas and shoveling thick mud coating much of the town.
Alicia Contreras said the walls and roof of her restaurant had been severely damaged by 15-foot (4.5-meter) waves. As officers and family helped pick through the damaged house, Contreras worried how she would recover economically.
“This is huge because we have no other source of income. Now we’re just surviving,” Contreras said.
El Niño is prompting major environmental shifts across the world, fueling drought in some areas and flooding in others. It traditionally dampens the Atlantic hurricane season, while it tends to rev up tropical cyclone activity in the Pacific with moist air and little wind shear.
A third storm in the Pacific, Hurricane Odalys, was at Category 4 status and was still far from land, roughly 955 miles (1,537 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. It carried maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph) and was moving north. It could intensify by Friday night.
Two other powerful storms were churning in the Atlantic Ocean, but were not near land.
In the northern Atlantic, Tropical Storm Fay re-formed early Thursday. As of Friday, it was about 1,040 miles (1,674 kilometers) west-southwest of the Azores, the hurricane center said.
Off Africa's western coast, Tropical Storm Gonzalo strengthened early Friday as it approached the Cabo Verde Islands with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph). The center was expected to pass near or over portions of the islands later Friday and gradually weaken over the weekend.
Associated Press writers Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Gabriela Aoun Angueira in San Diego; and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.
This satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Tropical Storm Gonzalo in the Atlantic Ocean, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. (NOAA via AP)
This satellite image provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Polo off the southwestern coast of Mexico and Hurricane Odalys, left, on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (NOAA via AP) CORRECTION: Changes to Hurricane Odalys, not Tropical Storm Nolo.
This satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Tropical Storm Nolo in the Pacific Ocean, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (NOAA via AP)
This photo provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Polo moving away from the southwestern coast of Mexico on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (NOAA via AP)
This satellite image provided by NOAA shows Tropical Storm Nolo, left, south of Hawaii; Hurricane Odalys, middle, and Hurricane Polo, right, off the coast of Mexico, in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (NOAA via AP)
