Video: A strange reaction: Manchester City's chief executive responds with a single word to the Premier League accusations

Ferran Soriano refused to answer questions after Manchester City were found guilty of serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules.

The Premier League announced today, Tuesday, that an independent commission had found City guilty of every breach relating to violations of the competition's financial rules across nine seasons, between 2009/2010 and 2017/2018. The commission also found the club guilty of three of four charges relating to a failure to cooperate with the league's investigation.

An official statement published on the Premier League's website today concluded that City had entered into "sham" commercial contracts with a number of its partners during that period. Those deals did not reflect the true agreements between the parties, and the aim was to artificially inflate the club's revenues and cut its costs. City had also relied on other, similar agreements.

According to the independent commission, the club provided inaccurate financial accounts and hid the true state of its finances from auditors and football's regulatory bodies. City also significantly breached the spending limits imposed by the Premier League and UEFA.

A reporter for Sky Sports put a question to Soriano about those breaches, asking: "Do you apologise to football fans? The Premier League says the contracts were 'sham', so is this a 'sham' club?" Soriano merely said, "Thank you."

Pressed again, amid complete silence from City's chief executive, the reporter repeated his questions. Soriano replied once more: "Thank you."

"Do you apologise to football fans? The Premier League says 'sham' contracts, is this a 'sham' club?"@RobHarris questions Man City chief executive Ferran Soriano after the club was found guilty of all charges related to Premier League's financial ruleshttps://t.co/3A2kYsOcCZ pic.twitter.com/LstPJGEPd7 — Sky News (@SkyNews) September 29, 2026