LaLiga President Javier Tebas has revealed that he has reported Manchester City to the European Commission over suspicions of manipulating financial statements.
Speaking at the Financial Times’ “Business of Football” summit on Thursday, Tebas said the complaint was filed in 2023 and the case is still under investigation.
The Premier League club has declined to comment on the matter, although a source told ESPN that City denies the accusations. ESPN has also contacted the European Commission for a statement.
“City has many companies in their group that are outside of the City Football Group structure—additional companies where they place their expenses,” Tebas said.
“These other companies operate at a loss, but not the club itself. We reported Manchester City to the EU. We have evidence and figures. We requested an investigation into City. It’s very important that all clubs are subject to the same rules of transparency and governance, both in sporting and financial terms. The City case is one where we believe they transferred losses to companies that are not officially part of City Football Group. Do you remember the case in the United States? The Enron case. What they did was transfer losses to different companies. This is a similar case. They [City] have a scouting company, a marketing company. These companies have very high expenses. They invoice City for much lower amounts. City ends up with lower costs than it would if this network of companies didn’t exist,” he added.
The Premier League club has refused to comment on the issue, and ESPN has reached out to the European Commission for a response.
City is already involved in another legal battle as they contest charges for breaching over 100 Premier League financial rules.