City have been referred to an independent commission by the Premier League over the alleged breaches, which span from the 2009-10 season to the 2017-18 campaign.

Manchester City issued a statement expressing surprise at Monday's announcement, and referred to "extensive engagement" with the Premier League on the matter. The club also said they held "irrefutable evidence" in support of their position.

The club's chief executive Ferran Soriano is understood to have only been notified by his Premier League counterpart Richard Masters of the referral over alleged breaches as the statement was going live on the league's website.

The sanctioning powers available range from a reprimand, through the deduction of points up to a recommendation to the league to expel a club from the competition.

The commission has the power to make such sanctions conditional on defined actions being taken within a fixed time period, and respondents have a right of appeal.

City are alleged to have breached league rules requiring provision "in utmost good faith" of "accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club's financial position".

The league said the accurate financial information required related to "revenue (including sponsorship revenue), its related parties and its operating costs".

The league said on Monday the accurate financial information required related to "revenue (including sponsorship revenue), its related parties and its operating costs".

The second set of breaches listed refers to alleged breaking of rules "requiring a member club to include full details of manager remuneration in its relevant contracts with its manager" related to seasons 2009-10 to 2012-13 inclusive.

The club's manager between December 2009 and May 2013 was current Italy boss Roberto Mancini.

The second set of alleged breaches also refers to requirements for a club to include full details of player remuneration within the relevant contracts, for the seasons 2010-11 to 2015-16 inclusive.

The third section deals with alleged breaches of Premier League rules requiring clubs to comply with UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations, between 2013-14 to 2017-18.

City were banned from UEFA competitions for two years by European football's governing body for alleged breaches of its FFP regulations in February 2020, but the sanction was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in July of the same year.

The fourth set of alleged breaches relates to the Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules in seasons 2015-16 to 2017-18 inclusive.

Finally, the club are alleged to have breached league rules requiring member clubs to co-operate with and assist the Premier League with its investigations, from December 2018 to date."

The hearing will be in private.

Australian Associated Press