PEP GUARDIOLA HAS offered his backing to Manchester City after they were found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules, stating: “We will get through this together.”
City have been found guilty by an independent commission, which concluded they “clearly intended to circumvent Premier League rules” over a nine-season period.
The club now face the threat of severe sanctions unless they are able to overturn the decision on appeal.
Guardiola, who left City at the end of last season after a glorious decade at the club, wrote on the Pep Team X account: “I want every single @ManCity fan to know I am here; more than ever.
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“I am, always have been, always will, be behind my club, my owner, my chairman, Ferran, the players, staff, Enzo and you, our unique supporters.
“Let me be clear: we will get through this together.
“I love you all.”
I want every single @ManCity fan to know I am here; more than ever. I am, always have been, always will, be behind my club, my owner, my chairman, Ferran, the players, staff, Enzo and you, our unique supporters. Let me be clear: we will get through this together. I love you all… pic.twitter.com/jmMvwbykqv
City were found to have engaged in schemes to inflate revenue and hide costs to the tune of more than £900 million.
The club have already indicated their intention to appeal, and say the decision “contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe”.
City chief executive Ferran Soriano told staff in a video message that the commission had gone along with the Premier League’s “conspiracy theory”.
Meanwhile, former Manchester United captain Roy Keane has said, if he was a City player, he would throw all the medals in the bin.
Speaking on ITV, Keane said: “They knew it would hurt a lot of people, but they’ve still done it, and, if I was a player, I’d be 100% sticking those medals in the bin.
“It’s cheating. You’re hearing nonsense about some ex-players saying, ‘Oh well, they won on the pitch’. Because it was cheating! It was cheating going on.”
The Times has reported that other top-flight clubs have contacted the league urging a conclusion to the case before the end of the season.
The same commission which has given its decision will now consider what sanctions should be imposed.
These could include significant sporting sanctions, such as a points deduction, or even expulsion.
That would be a dramatic fall from grace for a club who have won eight Premier League titles since Sheikh Mansour’s 2008 takeover, six of them under Guardiola.
The club were found by the commission to have operated a “disguised funding scheme” whereby companies from Abu Dhabi paid a fraction of the sum recorded on the club’s books, with the balance settled by Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), the company through which Sheikh Mansour owns the club.
That scheme was found to have inflated revenue by more than £830m over the nine-season period between 2009-10 and 2017-18.
The club also were found to have overstated income from image rights by almost £74m, and understated liabilities for staff contracts by almost £17m.
City were also found to have made “concerted efforts” to “stop and frustrate” the Premier League’s investigation.
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Guardiola offers Man City his support, Keane says players should throw medals 'in the bin'
PEP GUARDIOLA HAS offered his backing to Manchester City after they were found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules, stating: “We will get through this together.”
City have been found guilty by an independent commission, which concluded they “clearly intended to circumvent Premier League rules” over a nine-season period.
The club now face the threat of severe sanctions unless they are able to overturn the decision on appeal.
Guardiola, who left City at the end of last season after a glorious decade at the club, wrote on the Pep Team X account: “I want every single @ManCity fan to know I am here; more than ever.
“I am, always have been, always will, be behind my club, my owner, my chairman, Ferran, the players, staff, Enzo and you, our unique supporters.
“Let me be clear: we will get through this together.
“I love you all.”
City were found to have engaged in schemes to inflate revenue and hide costs to the tune of more than £900 million.
The club have already indicated their intention to appeal, and say the decision “contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe”.
City chief executive Ferran Soriano told staff in a video message that the commission had gone along with the Premier League’s “conspiracy theory”.
Meanwhile, former Manchester United captain Roy Keane has said, if he was a City player, he would throw all the medals in the bin.
Speaking on ITV, Keane said: “They knew it would hurt a lot of people, but they’ve still done it, and, if I was a player, I’d be 100% sticking those medals in the bin.
The Times has reported that other top-flight clubs have contacted the league urging a conclusion to the case before the end of the season.
The same commission which has given its decision will now consider what sanctions should be imposed.
These could include significant sporting sanctions, such as a points deduction, or even expulsion.
That would be a dramatic fall from grace for a club who have won eight Premier League titles since Sheikh Mansour’s 2008 takeover, six of them under Guardiola.
The club were found by the commission to have operated a “disguised funding scheme” whereby companies from Abu Dhabi paid a fraction of the sum recorded on the club’s books, with the balance settled by Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), the company through which Sheikh Mansour owns the club.
That scheme was found to have inflated revenue by more than £830m over the nine-season period between 2009-10 and 2017-18.
The club also were found to have overstated income from image rights by almost £74m, and understated liabilities for staff contracts by almost £17m.
City were also found to have made “concerted efforts” to “stop and frustrate” the Premier League’s investigation.
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