According to The Times, the FA has indicated that it may bring separate charges against Manchester City once the Premier League's proceedings against the club are concluded.

Previously, an independent commission ruled that Manchester City violated Premier League financial rules, finding that the club artificially inflated sponsorship agreements through funds from its owners over a nine-year period from 2009 to 2018, involving approximately £900 million.

Manchester City continues to deny any wrongdoing and has filed an appeal before Friday's deadline. The Times states that if the subsequent penalties against Manchester City are finalized, the FA is expected to bring its own charges.

A similar situation previously occurred with Chelsea. After the Premier League investigated Chelsea for undisclosed payments to agents and intermediaries, the FA also brought separate charges regarding the relevant issues.

The FA issued a statement on Friday morning, saying: "The decision of the independent commission has significant implications for the integrity of football. We are carefully studying this decision and its potential impacts and will take appropriate action."

The FA continued: "As proceedings between the Premier League and Manchester City Football Club are ongoing, we are not prepared to comment further at this stage. However, we will continue to monitor developments closely."

According to the independent commission's ruling, Manchester City overstated its revenues between 2009 and 2018. During this period, Manchester City became one of the dominant forces in English football, winning three Premier League titles, three League Cups, and the FA Cup in 2011.

The ruling stated that Manchester City structured arrangements to funnel funds from its Abu Dhabi owners into sponsorship agreements to boost sponsorship revenue and circumvent Premier League financial rules. The commission also found that Manchester City arranged "fictitious contracts" with some commercial partners with the aim of "artificially increasing club revenue and reducing costs."

The independent commission also stated that testimony provided by some of Manchester City's witnesses was "false in several key aspects" and found that the individuals testified knowing the content was untrue.

However, Manchester City disputes this. The Times previously reported that one of Manchester City's grounds for appeal is that the club believes the funding for the main sponsorship agreements came from the Abu Dhabi government, not Manchester City's owners. According to Premier League rules, state-owned entities, including Etihad Airways, can commercially sponsor clubs.

Manchester City's appeal against the independent commission's ruling is currently ongoing, so the FA has not yet officially announced new charges against Manchester City. According to The Times, the FA is expected to wait until the Premier League case proceedings conclude before deciding on further action.

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