Joe Hart Says He Trusts Man City Chairman After Panel Finds Club Guilty on 114 of 115 Financial Charges

Since an independent Premier League panel ruled Friday, September 25, that Manchester City committed 114 of the 115 alleged financial rule breaches brought against it, the club has neither faced sanctions nor issued a full public defense of the specific findings. What's changed since that verdict: chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak sent supporters an open letter over the weekend, and on Monday night former City goalkeeper Joe Hart became one of the first ex-players to react publicly, on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club.

What the panel found

The investigation, which ran more than three years and covered City's finances between 2009 and 2018, concluded the club intentionally misreported sponsorship income and made other undisclosed payments, according to Sports Illustrated. City is also accused of failing to cooperate with the Premier League's inquiry. No punishment has been handed down yet. City is expected to appeal, and the Premier League itself has not issued an official statement on the ruling, according to the Daily Mirror.

Al Mubarak's letter

In his letter to fans, obtained and quoted by Sports Illustrated and the Manchester Evening News, Al Mubarak wrote: "The Premier League process still has a long way to run, and our confidence and intent in proving the Club's innocence is just as strong as when this began." He added that he can't share details supporting City's position because of "the strict confidentiality of the legal process," noting the letter itself "underwent several legal checks" before release.

Hart's response

Hart, who made 348 appearances for City between 2006 and 2016 and won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups there, told BBC Radio 5 Live he has "no reason not to trust Khaldoon" and called the chairman's letter something written by "someone who cared about the club."

"I've heard everyone else go down every single rabbit hole, every single wormhole, every single discussion," Hart said. "My honest opinion is I've got no reason not to trust Khaldoon. What he said is enough for me."

Hart said he doesn't believe City will ultimately be found guilty once the appeal plays out, and that his own achievements at the club aren't in question regardless of the outcome. "I did what I did. I lined up 11 v 11 and had it out on the pitch," he said. "I know what I did, I know what we did, and I know how it happened. It didn't feel like we were scheming or plotting." He also said the ruling hadn't come up in conversations with former teammates, saying he can't "get involved in the ifs, buts and maybes" before the Premier League issues a formal statement.

Not everyone agrees

Football365, in an opinion piece, argued Hart's trust in Al Mubarak is misplaced given that an independent panel, not a newspaper or a rival club, reached the guilty finding. The outlet's writer argued that Hart's personal pride in what he achieved on the pitch and the club's guilt on financial charges "aren't mutually exclusive," and predicted City's title-winning seasons since 2008 will carry "asterisks" regardless of how Hart feels about his old employer's leadership.

Hart's defense rests on trusting a letter he says he "loved" from a chairman who, by his own admission, cannot share the evidence behind his confidence due to confidentiality rules. Whether that qualifies as informed trust or simply loyalty to a club that gave Hart his career is a judgment call the panel's ruling doesn't resolve, and neither Hart nor Football365's critique settles it definitively. The panel, after three-plus years of investigation, reached a guilty finding on 114 of 115 charges, and City's own chairman has not disputed that outcome publicly, only promised to overturn it on appeal.

What happens next

The Premier League has not announced a timeline for sanctions or confirmed what penalties are under consideration, and it still hasn't issued its own public statement on the verdict, according to the Daily Mirror. City's appeal is expected but no hearing date has been reported. Until a punishment is set and any appeal resolved, the club's Premier League titles, FA Cups and League Cups from the period in question remain on the books unaltered, and the practical consequences of Friday's ruling remain entirely undetermined.