The House of Commons' Treasury Committee, which oversees the tax authority HMRC, has called on the body to examine the tax implications of the verdict against Manchester City. The committee's chair, Dame Meg Hillier, told the authority that the findings from the case brought by the league against the club required its attention.
On Tuesday, it was confirmed that an independent commission found City guilty on all points of the charges brought by the Premier League regarding breaches of the league's financial regulations between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons. The club, which had previously denied the charges, has indicated it will appeal by Friday.
The commission found that the club had inflated its revenues through 'fictitious' sponsorship deals with the help of its owners. It also concluded that City had 'used mechanisms' to 'conceal the true extent of certain of the club's liabilities'. The Treasury Committee asked whether the relevant government body had requested the redacted documents contained in the commission's report.
Dame Meg Hillier stated that she would 'welcome HMRC's assurance that it is aware of the importance of these issues and the public interest in this case'.
In its appeal, Manchester City will argue that the key sponsorships were funded by the governments of Abu Dhabi, not by the club's owners. The club's owner, Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), is a private investment company owned by the UAE's Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Sheikh Mansour. ADUG, it is stated, increased the value of commercial contracts by £830.69 million, which allowed the club to appear compliant with the financial regulations of the Premier League and UEFA.
Sources told BBC Sport that the club is expected to tell the appeal panel that it has evidence that the money directed to sponsors came from the government of Abu Dhabi, not from ADUG. The independent commission rejected this argument as 'untrue'.
'The conclusion was that this was an argument devised by the club long after the events to mask and conceal the reality of the hidden funding scheme', the commission stated. The club, meanwhile, stated that the commission's decision contained 'clear material errors, in law, in principle and in fact, and that the decision is uncertain'.
Sheikh Mansour is a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi and is the brother of the President of the UAE, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. ADUG took over City in 2008. The rules of the Premier League allow state bodies to sponsor clubs.
On Saturday, City's chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, spoke of 'irrefutable evidence' which, he claims, supports the club's claims of innocence. The club's main sponsor, Etihad Airways, stated that it is considering legal action against the Premier League. The airline stated that the publication of the commission's findings had 'detrimental consequences... although the airline was not named in the published redacted findings'.
Etihad, the UAE's national airline, 'strongly rejects any finding, conclusion or implication that the company was involved in inappropriate commercial arrangements'. Etihad is owned by the state investment fund L'Imad, which is chaired by the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, the son of the President of the UAE. The Premier League declined to comment when contacted by BBC Sport.
