Guardiola believes that the club is innocent
Pep Guardiola has named the nine clubs that tried to get Manchester City kicked out of the Champions League in 2020.
Guardiola was facing the media for the first time since the bombshell news that City were to be charged by the Premier League for over 100 financial breaches.
The outcome of what will happen has yet to be decided, but punishment could result in a points deduction or even relegation from the top flight.
Both Guardiola and the club believe that they are innocent but ahead of his side’s game against Manchester City, the Spaniard referred to a similar incident that took place three years ago.
🗣 "Do you think other clubs don't like Man City?"
Pep 🗣 "They open a precedent right now, what they have done to us, be careful. There are a lot of clubs that can be accused."
Pep Guardiola believes that other Premier League clubs have driven these accusations against City pic.twitter.com/qzAYCE2vJs
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) February 10, 2023
Man City were banned from European competitions for two years in February 2020 after UEFA found them to be in breach of Financial Fair Play after leaked documents which claimed to show how they had used false sponsorship agreements to boost their revenue on the club’s accounts.
Their ban was overturned after an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) was successful because they deemed their was “insufficient evidence” to uphold their initial punishment.
During the investigation, CAS revealed that nine Premier League clubs wrote to them to demand that the ban was upheld. They were: Arsenal, Burnley, Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle, Tottenham and Wolves.
"Will NEVER forget when 8 or 9 teams tried to get us BANNED!" 🤬
Pep Guardiola is truly box office 🍿 pic.twitter.com/fH7MIJqQqY
— Hayters TV (@HaytersTV) February 3, 2023
City’s boss brought it up again and said that he will “never forget” those that tried to get them banned from Europe.
“We were accused, I never forget that, eight or nine teams in the Premier League sent a letter to the Premier League and they wanted us to be banned, to be out of the Premier League so that happened to us, when we were the fifth team to spend that in the last five years, when we start to win titles, so this is the reality.”
Despite the ongoing speculation about his future, Guardiola also reaffirmed his commitment to the club and said that he would not be leaving.
I am not moving from this seat. I can assure you, he said. “More than ever.”
Related links:
- Man City hire lawyer who advised Boris Johnson during lockdown ‘Partygate’
- Premier League clubs reportedly want the strongest punishment possible for Man City if found guilty
- Erik ten Hag refuses to comment on Man City charges
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