The clouds over Manchester City continue to thicken. After the independent Premier League commission found the "citizens" guilty of the majority of 115 charges of financial irregularities, the club was faced with a new serious test. The independent financial regulator in the UK — The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) — has officially launched an investigation into the Champions' accounting audit.
The FRC's action comes in response to a formal letter from Labour MP Liam Byrne, who is also chairman of the UK Parliament's business and commerce committee.
In his request, Byrne called for an investigation into the initial findings and questioned why regulators and auditors missed irregularities of such magnitude for almost a decade.
„The findings raise a fundamental question: how did the established system of audit and regulatory scrutiny fail to uncover alleged irregularities of such magnitude for nine years? We are particularly concerned that these issues have come to light through media reports rather than through the established audit and accounting process,” Byrne said.
Following the FRC’s response, the MP published an update confirming the review, but also drawing attention to the serious legislative gaps that hinder effective control over football clubs.
According to Byrne, the regulator’s letter reveals its limited ability to demand key evidence from the clubs themselves, as well as to seek personal responsibility from directors and managers who fall outside its direct disciplinary scope. The case is putting pressure on the UK government to urgently tighten regulations and close loopholes in the oversight of sports bodies.
Manchester City are currently appealing the decision on the 115 charges, but the new FRC investigation is putting additional pressure on the "Etihad".