A controversial Manchester City financial arrangement that attracted scrutiny years ago has returned to the centre of attention after the Premier League referred to the deal as a “sham” arrangement in its latest findings against the club.
The reference to Fordham Sports Image Rights has provided fresh significance to an investigation first published eight years ago, when questions were raised about how Manchester City accounted for £24.5 million received for the future image rights of players.
The arrangement had appeared in City’s accounts at a time when the club was under scrutiny over financial sustainability rules and UEFA regulations.
Questions surrounding the £24.5 million payment
Fordham Sports Image Rights was presented as the company that had acquired the club’s future image rights for £24.5 million.
However, the company’s ownership structure immediately raised questions. Its directors included City legal officer Simon Cliff and non-executive director John MacBeath, a chartered accountant with links to the club.
Further inquiries also produced conflicting information about whether City had genuinely transferred control of the commercial arrangements.
Among those questioned was Spanish financier Esteve Calzada, who was working as an adviser to Manchester City and had been involved in negotiating image-rights agreements involving players including Kevin De Bruyne.
Calzada indicated at the time that he was working on commercial arrangements for Manchester City rather than independently for Fordham, adding to questions about the relationship between the companies.
City responded with legal pressure
The investigation was published by The Independent under the headline alleging that Manchester City was still earning millions from image-rights arrangements after telling UEFA investigators that those rights had been sold.
The response from Manchester City was forceful.
The club’s lawyers threatened legal action and demanded that the article be removed, an apology be issued and that the journalist involved publicly retract the report.
Instead, the publication defended the investigation in detail.
After the newspaper sent a lengthy response setting out its position, the threatened legal action did not proceed and the article remained available.
Leaked documents added another layer
Months later, leaked documents published in November 2018 appeared to provide additional information about Fordham.
The documents, obtained by hacker Rui Pinto and subsequently made public, reportedly indicated that Manchester City’s owners, Abu Dhabi United Group, had financed Fordham.
That raised an even more significant question over the original £24.5 million transaction.
According to the leaked material, the arrangement allegedly allowed money connected to the owners to flow through Fordham, with implications for both City’s reported revenues and its wage expenditure.
The claims became part of the wider debate surrounding Manchester City’s compliance with financial regulations.
Premier League findings put Fordham back in focus
The issue has now resurfaced in the Premier League’s findings following its long-running case against Manchester City.
In a statement issued after the latest verdict, the league said the club had artificially reduced its costs by around £900 million over a nine-season period.
Fordham was specifically identified in the league’s description of arrangements it considered to be “sham”.
The Premier League said the arrangements enabled Manchester City to record lower operating expenses than it had actually incurred.
It also described the Fordham arrangement as a “sham” circular arrangement.
Those findings have given renewed relevance to questions that were raised publicly years before the Premier League reached its conclusions.
A vindication for the original investigation
For those who investigated the Fordham arrangement in 2018, the Premier League’s findings represent a significant moment.
The original investigation had questioned whether Manchester City had genuinely transferred its future image-rights income to an independent company, particularly given Fordham’s connections to senior figures within the club.
The subsequent leaked documents and the Premier League’s findings have now placed the arrangement under considerably greater scrutiny.
The original report was never removed, despite the legal pressure placed on the publication.
Its central questions have therefore remained part of the public record throughout the years of investigation.
Manchester City’s wider battle over its reputation
The Fordham dispute is part of a much larger battle over Manchester City’s finances and the conduct of its ownership and management.
The club has repeatedly faced accusations from critics that it has attempted to control the narrative surrounding its financial affairs, while supporters have argued that City has been unfairly targeted by rival interests and football authorities.
That debate has frequently become highly confrontational, particularly on social media.
The Premier League’s lengthy legal battle with City has likewise generated intense criticism from both sides, with the league insisting that its case was based on financial and regulatory concerns rather than sporting rivalry.
Premier League officials stood their ground
The latest developments have also highlighted the persistence of Premier League officials who pursued the case despite the considerable resources and legal power available to Manchester City.
The dispute has lasted for years and involved thousands of documents and numerous financial allegations.
The inclusion of Fordham in the league’s latest findings has nevertheless brought one relatively obscure aspect of the wider case back into sharp focus.
What began as questions about a little-known company and a £24.5 million payment has become part of a much broader examination of how Manchester City accounted for its finances.
An old investigation with new significance
The Fordham story demonstrates why seemingly technical financial details can become important in football’s increasingly complex regulatory environment.
At the time, the questions surrounding the company appeared highly specialised and difficult to explain beyond the world of financial regulation.
Years later, the Premier League’s description of Fordham as part of a “sham” circular arrangement has given those questions renewed significance.
For the journalists who first investigated the transaction, the latest findings offer a striking sense of vindication.
For Manchester City, meanwhile, the Fordham arrangement is now another chapter in a much larger and still fiercely contested dispute over financial transparency, regulatory compliance and the conduct of one of English football’s most powerful clubs.
