Micah Richards says Manchester City verdict left him ‘absolutely devastated’

Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards said on 30 September that he felt ‘absolutely devastated’ after reading an independent Premier League commission’s findings against the club in England. His reaction adds a former player’s voice to the uncertainty facing City supporters while the club disputes the verdict and a separate hearing on sanctions lies ahead.

Richards made the comments on The Rest Is Football podcast, according to BBC Sport. He called the findings ‘troubling’ and described the language used about ‘sham contracts’ as ‘damning’. The verdict concerns financial rules during nine seasons in which City won three Premier League titles, including the 2011–12 title won while Richards was in the squad.

What Micah Richards said about Manchester City supporters

‘I was at that club since I was 14 years old, I would die for that club,’ Richards said. He said he had achieved his dream at City, but that hearing the findings was devastating for him as a former player and for fans. His attachment to the club, he said, made the verdict especially difficult to absorb.

Richards recounted a call from a longtime City supporter whose family had housed him when he was a young player. The supporter was in tears and asked him for information, Richards said, but he had no answers. He described the uncertainty for someone who had supported the club for more than 60 years as ‘heartbreaking’.

What the Premier League commission found

The Premier League announced on 29 September that the independent commission had upheld every charge concerning serious breaches of financial rules from 2009–10 through 2017–18. It also upheld three of four allegations that City failed to cooperate with the league’s investigation. The verdict was the subject of earlier NewsJaws coverage of the commission’s findings.

In the league’s published account, the commission found that City used ‘sham’ commercial agreements involving sponsors and its then owner, Abu Dhabi United Group, to make revenue appear higher and costs lower. The league said the effect exceeded £900 million across the period. The commission found that the arrangements led to misstated accounts and concealed the club’s true financial position from auditors and football regulators.

The league said the commission concluded that accurate reporting of those arrangements would have left City substantially over both Premier League and UEFA spending limits. It also said the commission found ‘concerted efforts’ by the club to obstruct the league investigation. These are findings reported in the league’s summary of the commission decision, which City rejects.

Sky Sports’ account of the commission materials gives a breakdown of one disputed funding stream: it reports that Abu Dhabi sponsors paid £119.25 million of the £949.94 million recorded as commercial income over the nine seasons, while the commission attributed £830.69 million to Abu Dhabi United Group. Sky also reports that the commission found a separate Fordham arrangement overstated income by £24.5 million and understated expenses by £49.414 million.

How Manchester City disputes the verdict

City chief executive Ferran Soriano maintained the club’s innocence in a video message to staff reported by The Guardian. He called the league’s case a ‘single false accusation’ and a ‘Premier League conspiracy theory’. Soriano said bank statements, transfers and witness evidence showed that the owner’s money had not secretly reached the club through sponsors. Those are the club’s assertions, rather than conclusions established by the published commission summary.

Soriano said City’s lawyers would appeal, arguing that the commission’s opinion contained errors of law, principle and fact. His response was also covered in an earlier NewsJaws report on City’s challenge to the decision. Richards’s subsequent comments show how a former player is responding while that challenge remains unresolved.

Appeal deadline and sanctions still to come

The Premier League says City has until Friday 2 October to exercise its right to appeal the commission’s findings. A further, private commission hearing will address sanctions separately. No sanction or appeal result is established by the published accounts, so the sporting consequences of the verdict remain undecided.

The league began investigating City in December 2018, and the commission’s 42-day hearing ended in December 2024. Premier League chief executive Richard Masters called it the most significant disciplinary case in the competition’s history and said the league intended to move swiftly through the remaining process. A redacted version of the commission’s core decision has been published; the league says further material remains subject to confidentiality and will be released when permitted.