Australia’s football season to begin under a pall as Melbourne City shares owners with the Premier League giant found guilty of unprecedented breaches

The Premier League’s finding that Manchester City is guilty of breaching financial rules is already rippling across the football world, overshadowing Wednesday’s launch of the Australian domestic season in Sydney.

It was confirmed on Wednesday that City have been found guilty of all charges relating to breaches of the league’s financial rules including using “sham contracts” over a nine-year period, with the club found to have boosted their income by more than £900m.