Now FA are considering taking action against Manchester City - as club confirm they've lodged an appeal over guilty verdict

The Football Association are 'carefully considering' the implications of the findings into Manchester City's breaches of the Premier League's financial regulations as the club confirm they have lodged an appeal against guilty verdict.

The official verdict was released on Tuesday afternoon, which showed City had cooked the books to the tune of nearly £900million through money artificially pumped into the club by their Abu Dhabi owners over a nine-year period.

A statement from the FA read: 'The independent commission’s decision has significant implications for the integrity of the game. We are carefully considering the decision and its implications and will take action where appropriate.

'As proceedings between the Premier League and Manchester City Football Club remain ongoing, we do not intend to comment further at this stage. We will, however, continue to monitor developments closely.'

City have now confirmed they have lodged an appeal against the decision ahead of the Friday night deadline.

In a statement, they said: 'The club’s firm position is that, on multiple grounds, the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe.

The FA are 'carefully considering' the implications of the findings into Manchester City

City have appealed their guilty verdict of breaching'all charges related to serious breaches' of the Premier League's financial regulations

'The club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case.

'We will continue to respect due process and are necessarily restricted in what we can say further until all proceedings are complete.'

New Premier League rules state that a hearing must be held within 12 weeks of an appeal being lodged, with a decision due within 30 days of the hearing, which can only last five days, concluding.

Daily Mail Sport reported on Thursday that City will attempt to prove their innocence by arguing that the government of Abu Dhabi – rather than the club’s owners – part-funded ‘sham’ sponsorship.

The club's ‘disguised funding’ process – where the ownership group topping up commercial partnerships to the tune of £830.69m - it found, allowed them to illegally sign the players that ushered in an era of success at the Etihad Stadium.

However, those with knowledge of the situation claim that City’s argument is that the monies were actually paid by the government, which owns the sponsors, rather than the club’s owners Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) – a private company owned by Sheikh Mansour – and as such, no rules were broken.

Sponsorship deals with government-funded companies are commonplace throughout the Premier League, particularly in the case of airlines, and are not banned.

That argument, aided by what the club claim is ‘irrefutable evidence’ in the form of bank statements and witness accounts, is likely to be made in front of a new panel after City appealed the seismic findings.

Ferran Soriano (right) sent a video message to staff vowing to ‘clear the club’s name’ after the club was found guilty of breaking financial rules

If City's appeal fails it could see the club kicked out of the Premier League and ordered to hand titles back.

The Premier League say that the club was 'significantly in breach of both the Premier League's and UEFA's spending limits' during the time period in question, 2009-2018, when it won eight major trophies.

Had City reported accurately, 'it would have been in breach of both the League's and UEFA's spending limits by a very substantial amount'.

The panel also found that City committed multiple breaches of its duties of co-operation and good faith in that it failed to assist the Premier League's four-year investigation, triggered by the emergence of club emails obtained by a hacker.

Indeed, City had 'made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the PL investigation'.

Richard Masters, chief executive of the Premier League, said: 'The core decision establishes the facts of what happened at Manchester City during this period. It details how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade.

'It also vindicates the Premier League's decision to pursue this case against Manchester City. While the process to date has been both long and difficult, the League has remained determined that the facts be established independently.

'It is a key responsibility of the Premier League to ensure that the Rules, approved by the clubs themselves, are upheld to protect the integrity of the competition. It is paramount that the League remains competitive and fair for all clubs and for the fans. We take that role extremely seriously.

'This disciplinary case, and this decision, are the most significant in Premier League history. There are elements of the case that remain to be decided, including, importantly, what sanction must follow for these breaches.

'Now we have the Commission's decision, we are committed to moving swiftly through the remainder of the process, to provide certainty for the League, our clubs and fans.'