Man City lodges 'comprehensive' appeal after being found guilty of financial rule-breaking

Manchester City has lodged a "comprehensive" appeal, the club confirmed Friday, following the publication of a report by an independent commission detailing large-scale financial rule-breaking by the Premier League giant.

"The club's firm position," read a short statement from City, "is that, on multiple grounds, the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe."

City has protested its innocence throughout the long-running case, which dates back to 2018, and reached a milestone Tuesday when the Premier League published a verdict saying the Abu Dhabi-controlled club was "guilty of all charges related to serious breaches" of the competition's financial rules from 2009-18.

Officials said they would lodge an appeal and that was filed on Thursday evening, the club said, ahead of Friday's deadline.

"The club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case," City said, using language from previous statements on the case.

Manchester City guilty of almost all 115 financial charges, Premier League says in explosive verdict

According to the Premier League handbook, the chair of the three-person disciplinary commission that found against City now has to appoint a new appeal board. That also will consist of three people, one of whom "shall have held judicial office," the league's rules state.

The appeal board will then schedule a hearing that should finish within 12 weeks after the appeal is filed, and cannot exceed five consecutive days.

City has yet to receive a punishment for the violations found. That will be addressed in a separate, confidential hearing with the