Manchester City: Pep Guardiola says club ‘condemned’ over alleged breaches

Manchester City have “already been convicted” for alleged breaches of financial rules, says coach Pep Guardiola.

A two-year ban on European competitions for violating Uefa’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) in 2020.

“The club have proved that they are completely innocent,” said Guardiola.

“What has happened since Monday is the same as at Uefa. We have already been convicted.

“You have to understand that 19 teams in the Premier League accuse us without us being able to defend ourselves.

“We are lucky to live in a wonderful country where everyone is innocent until proven guilty.

“We didn’t have that opportunity, we’re already convicted. I have no doubts that we will be innocent.”

The Premier League has referred City to an independent commission for alleged rule-breaking between 2009 and 2018, in which the club won three of their six Premier League titles.

It also accused City of not cooperating since the investigation began in December 2018.

The commission can impose penalties ranging from a fine to points deduction to expulsion from the Premier League.

City, which was bought by Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008, said they were “surprised” by the charges and that their innocence was supported by “irrefutable evidence”.

Guardiola reiterated that confidence in a defiant press conference on Friday, at which he also said he believed the charges were brought by rival clubs.

When asked if he believed that, he said: “Of course – it’s the Premier League. I do not know why. You have to ask the CEOs.

“They just set a precedent for what they did to us.

“Be careful, be careful in the future because there are many clubs who, like us, have been accused without being innocent. Who knows what will happen in the future?

“They think we didn’t do the right thing, we can accept that, but let us defend if we think we did the right thing.”

Guardiola previously said he would leave City if claims they had broken financial rules were proven.

However, he said he had no intention of retiring on Friday, adding: “I’m not leaving this seat, I can assure you. I want to stay more than ever.”

He said even if City are found guilty by the commission and relegated they will return to the Premier League.

“We were already in the lower leagues,” he said. “We’ll be back – no problem.

“We’re going to call Paul Dickov and Mike Summerbee and we’re going to do it again.

“But they should wait. The Premier League put it there but they should wait. We will defend like we did in the Uefa situation.”

Guardiola said he didn’t know what would happen next but had received assurances of City’s innocence from the club’s hierarchy.

“We have a good lawyer, not that Uefa had bad lawyers,” he added.

“And I think the Premier League, backed by 19 teams, will also take good lawyers to defend their position.

“I would have liked to have waited to find out what happens but just in case we’re not innocent we will accept what the judge and the Premier League decide.

“But if the same situation happens with Uefa and we are innocent, what happens to repair or repay our damage?”

A Premier League statement said City had broken rules that require them to “provide accurate financial information which gives a true and fair view of the club’s financial position”.

This information covered club revenue, which includes sponsorship revenue and operating costs.

Other alleged breaches relate to rules requiring full disclosures on managers’ pay – from the 2009/10 to 2012/13 seasons when Roberto Mancini was in charge – and on player pay between 2010/11 and 2015/16.

The Premier League said City breached rules related to Uefa regulations, including FFP, from 2013/14 to 2017/18, as well as Premier League rules on profitability and sustainability from 2015/16 to 2017/18.

In 2020, European football’s governing body Uefa ruled that City committed “serious breaches” of FFP regulations between 2012 and 2016.

However, a two-year ban on European competitions was lifted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) later that year.

Uefa began its investigation into City after German newspaper Der Spiegel published leaked documents in November 2018 claiming the club had overstated the value of a sponsorship deal.

The negotiations of the Commission – chaired by Murray Rosen KC – are treated confidentially and in camera.

When the Premier League investigation began, City said the allegations were “completely false” and that the allegations in the Der Spiegel stemmed from “illegal hacking and the publication of City emails out of context”.