Pep Guardiola ‘convinced’ of Man City’s innocence over alleged rule breaches

By Andy Hampson, PA

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has expressed confidence in the club’s position after they were charged with 115 breaches of the Premier League’s Financial Fair Play rules this week.

Guardiola has previously said he would leave the club if accusations they had broken the rules were proved true.

City previously had a European competition ban for breaching UEFA’s FFP regulations overturned following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2020.

Defiant address from Guardiola in relation to FFP charges this afternoon #mcfc pic.twitter.com/a4fcyTeQNt

— Andy Hampson (@andyhampson) February 10, 2023

The new charges relate to a nine-year period from 2009.

Guardiola said: “My first thought is we’ve already been condemned, as happened with UEFA. We had accusations. The club proved we were completely innocent. You know what side I am on.”

Guardiola, speaking at a press conference ahead of facing Aston Villa this weekend, further criticised some outside parties for being quick to pass judgement.

He said: “We are lucky we live in a country where everyone is innocent until proven guilty. It seems like we have already been sentenced.

“What is going to happen, I don’t know. We think we have good lawyers and I know we are going to defend our position.”

Guardiola claimed his players will not be affected by the matter.

He said: “We have trained like normal to try to beat Aston Villa. The court will dictate what happens. I am fully convinced that we will be innocent.”

There have been reports the FFP matter could take years to resolve, but Guardiola is confident his work will not be overly affected by a potentially long investigation.

He said: “This happened with UEFA. I don’t think we are going to talk about this every single day. We just have to focus on the pitch.”

Club statement

— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 6, 2023

Guardiola insisted he had no intention of quitting his job.

He said: “I am not moving from this seat, I can assure you. I want to stay more than ever.”

Guardiola believes the charges have been driven by rival clubs.

Asked if this was the case, he said: “Of course – it is the Premier League. I don’t know why. You have to ask the CEOs, Daniel Levy, these kind of people.”