To cheat, trick, deceive, delude with false pretences; to impose upon, take in, hoax. That is the Oxford English definition of the word "sham." That word appears eight times in the independent commission's ruling published on Tuesday, which found Manchester City guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of financial rules, and all but one in relation to a failure to co-operate with the investigation.

The 40-page document shows how the club's owners, Abu Dhabi United Group, knew from the 2009-10 season that there would be major overspends. So, City found a way to boost sponsorship income. Season after season, for nine seasons. The so-called Disguised Funding Scheme hid more than £830m of sponsorship funding, while other devices hid £90m in expenses.

City were bought by Abu Dhabi investors in 2008, but their predicament became clear from the start of the 2009-10 season. Total losses for that campaign were going to exceed the record single-season loss by a Premier League club, set by Chelsea FC in 2006 at £140m. To address this, City entered into sponsorship agreements that were record amounts and above fair market value.

The deals were split into a base fee and a tagged sum. Sponsors paid the base fee; owners paid the tagged sum. Commercial income totalled £949.94m from 2009-10 to 2017-18. Only £119.25m represented base fees; £830.69m were tagged sums. Man City denied the claims, but the panel rejected that explanation as "concocted well after the event."