Manchester City have been accused of using a mystery man from the UAE to cover money that was supposed to come from a sponsor.

The Times claim that a leaked UEFA report from 2020 concludes that two £15m payments in 2012 and 2013 were made from a mystery figure from the United Arab Emirates to Manchester City.

These payments were meant to cover sums that were supposed to have come from one of City’s sponsors, and they’re expected to be part of the 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules that City were charged with in February.

The Belfast Telegraph write that UEFA’s investigation concluded that the money was funding from the club’s owners disguised as sponsorship revenue.

In UEFA’s investigation, these charges were time-barred by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. CAS said UEFA should not have dealt with the charges as they’d passed the five-year time limit.

But this will not be the case if they’re part of the Premier League’s charges.

In a statement back in February, the Premier League confirmed that they’d referred a number of alleged breaches of the Premier League Rules by Manchester City to a commission.

The rules that have allegedly been breached include the below:

• “Provision…in the utmost good faith, of accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club’s financial position, in particular with respect to its revenue (including sponsorship revenue), its related parties and its operating costs”
• The requirement of a Premier League club “to include full details of manager remuneration in its relevant contracts with its manager” and “full details of player remuneration in its relevant contracts with its players”
• The requirement of a Premier League club “to comply with UEFA’s regulations, including UEFA’s Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations”
• The requirement to adhere to rules on “profitability and sustainability”
• The requirement to “cooperate with, and assist, the Premier League in its investigations, including by providing documents and information to the Premier League in the utmost good faith”

The dates of said alleged breaches range from 2009/10 to 2022/23.

The commission assessing the alleged breaches operate independently of the Premier League and the clubs involved, and the proceedings will be confidential and private.

The final results will be published on the Premier League’s website, and the league confirmed they will make no further comment until those results are available.