Guardiola Says Manchester City Are ‘Already Condemned’ Over Financial Violation Allegations

Manchester City have “already been condemned,” according to manager Pep Guardiola, for allegedly breaking financial guidelines.

More than 100 financial rule infractions were alleged against Manchester City by the Premier League on Monday.

In 2020, a two-year ban from European competitions for breaking Uefa’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

“The club proved they were completely innocent,” Pep Guardiola said.

“What’s happened since Monday is the same as what happened with Uefa. We have already been condemned.

“You have to understand that 19 teams in the Premier League are accusing us without us having the ability to defend.

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

“We didn’t have this opportunity, we are already sentenced. I am fully convinced we will be innocent.”

The Premier League sent City to an impartial commission due to alleged rule violations that may have occurred between 2009 and 2018 when the team won three of its six Premier League championships.

Additionally, it claimed that since the probe began in December 2018, City had been uncooperative.

The commission has the power to punish Manchester City by imposing fines on them, withdrawing their titles, deducting their points this season, or sacking them from the Premier League.

In an angry press conference on Friday, Guardiola affirmed his conviction in the allegations and added that he thought opposition teams were responsible for the charges.

“Of course – it is the Premier League,” he said when asked if he thought other clubs were behind the charges. “I have no idea why. You need to talk to the CEOs.

“They have opened a precedent right now, what they have done to us.

“Be careful, be careful in the future as there are a lot of clubs that have been accused like we have without being innocent, who knows what will happen in the future?

“They believe that we didn’t behave properly, we can accept that, but let us defend ourselves when we believe we did it properly.”