Premier League rivals want to see us punished: City boss Guardiola
BBC – Manager Pep Guardiola says Manchester City’s Premier League rivals want to see the club punished for alleged breaches of the top flight’s financial rules.
Guardiola says he is glad the hearing into City’s 115 charges will begin on Monday.
City were charged and referred to an independent commission in February 2023 following a four-year investigation.
It is alleged City breached the Premier League’s financial rules between 2009 and 2018.
City strongly deny all charges and have said their case is supported by a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence”.
Javier Tebas, president of Spain’s La Liga, is a long-time critic of City, owned by the Abu Dhabi-backed City Football Group and has repeatedly accused the them – together with Qatar-backed PSG – of being a state club and of “financial doping”.
Tebas says he has spoken to many Premier League clubs and believes they want to see the current champions punished.
“I have spoken with many Premier League clubs and most of them understand that City should be sanctioned,” he was quoted as saying by Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo.
Responding to these comments on Friday, former Barcelona boss Guardiola said: “For the first time I agree with Tebas.
“All the Premier League teams want us to be sanctioned, that is for sure. But that’s why I say to Mr Tebas and the Premier League teams, wait for the independent panel.
“Justice is there in a modern democracy. It’s not more complicated than that.
“I don’t know if he is a lawyer or the rest of the Premier League teams are lawyers, so I ask for that. It happened with UEFA.
“We believe we have not done anything wrong.”
Billed as sport’s ‘trial of the century’, it is expected to run for 10 weeks – with a verdict likely in early 2025.
The Premier League has also accused the reigning champions of not co-operating with its investigation.
If found guilty of the most serious charges, City could be hit with a points deduction serious enough to condemn them to relegation – or even expulsion – from the Premier League.
City have won eight league titles, multiple cups and the Champions League since their 2008 Abu Dhabi takeover.