The case against Manchester City Club’s alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations has been referred to an independent judicial chamber, UEFA announced on Thursday.

The European soccer’s governing body revealed in March that the club's Abu Dhabi owners had inflated sponsorship agreements to comply with FFP requirements.

“The Club Financial Control Body chief investigator (Yves Leterme)... has decided to refer Manchester City FC to the CFCB adjudicatory chamber following the conclusion of his investigation,” UEFA said in a statement.

For its part, the club stated that it is “disappointed, but regrettably not surprised, by the sudden announcement of the referral.”

“Manchester City is entirely confident of a positive outcome when the matter is considered by an independent judicial body. The accusation of financial irregularities remains entirely false and the CFCB IC referral ignores a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence provided by Manchester City to the Chamber," the club said in a statement.

"The decision contains mistakes, misinterpretations, and confusions fundamentally borne out of a basic lack of due process and there remain significant unresolved matters raised by Manchester City as part of what the club has found to be a wholly unsatisfactory, curtailed, and hostile process,” it added.

FFP regulations are meant to stop clubs from accepting unlimited amounts of money through inflated sponsorship deals.