The Solicitors Regulation Authority will examine this week’s damning Premier League report on Manchester City and investigate any potential solicitor misconduct as more information is made public. An independent commission found the football club guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the league’s financial rules over a nine-season period, a decision that will have far-reaching consequences for sports governance.
The commission found that City arranged ‘sham’ contracts with several commercial partners and sponsors which were part of a disguised funding scheme. Additional funds originated from Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which held ownership of the club during the period in question. Premier League regulations restrict how much clubs can allocate to player transfers and wages, but City’s arrangements circumvented those restrictions entirely.
The inquiry exposed Project Longbow, initiated in late 2012 to explore revenue expansion and curb losses. While some components were legitimate, the Fordham Arrangement was not. This scheme involved a third-party entity, Fordham Sports Image Rights Ltd (previously known as Manchester City Football Club (Image Rights) Ltd), serving as a conduit for ADUG. The owner’s funds were used to enable Fordham to acquire from the club ‘at a sizeable, artificially inflated price’ the club’s entitlement to benefit financially from its players’ image rights.
The redacted ruling does not disclose who understood the scheme’s true purpose or approved it, with those details omitted in an unpublished appendix. Company records confirm Simon Cliff, a solicitor since 2002, acted as a director of Fordham from June 2012 until July 2013. He also held the position of City’s general counsel from 2009 to January 2013 and currently occupies the same role at the City Football Group. Though the ruling does not implicate him in the violations, earlier media reports had connected him to the investigation.
Cliff introduced the term Project Longbow in 2018, according to a report by German news outlet Der Spiegel. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is understood to be monitoring the situation and will examine the unredacted ruling when it is published. An authority spokesperson stated they would evaluate the report for potential solicitor misconduct, emphasizing that any conclusions would undergo careful review before action is considered.
It has also been suggested that City could be forced to pay the Premier League £50m in legal costs. In a public statement, the club rejected the allegations, describing the ruling as flawed and announcing plans to challenge it. They argued that the Premier League’s process remains incomplete and that the decision contains errors in law, principle, and factual accuracy. The club further claimed it had adhered to due process for eight years while expecting fair regulation.
City’s legal team has already begun preparing its defense, arguing that the commission’s methodology lacked transparency. They contend that key financial transactions were misrepresented in the ruling, a claim the Premier League disputes. The appeal hearing will examine these disputes in detail, with both sides presenting evidence to support their positions.
