Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak released a statement insisting the club is innocent, despite reports they were found guilty on 114 financial rule breaches, including Roberto Mancini’s double contract.

The Premier League club faces anything from a fine to having titles stripped , points deducted and a demotion if it is confirmed that they are found guilty of breaking the financial rules on a massive scale.

The 115 charges were originally made in February 2023, including failure to provide accurate details for player and manager payments from 2009-10 to 2017-18.

Notably, among the most obvious issues was current Italy coach Mancini’s salary, which was seen as one of the clearest examples of by-passing the regulations.

Der Spiegel’s investigation using hacked emails found that Mancini received a salary of £1.5m before tax from Manchester City, but had another contract with sister club Al-Jazira worth £1.75m.

This was for consultancy fees, even though it only involved four days of work per year.

It is alleged this was a way of hiding the true extent of Mancini’s salary payment from the Premier League and UEFA financial checks.

This afternoon, Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak released a statement on the club website that reiterated their position on the matter.