Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano has told club staff that the club will overturn the guilty verdicts in the 115-charge case, describing the Premier League commission's opinion as a conspiracy theory. The three-man panel found City guilty on every financial charge in a case that has hung over football for three years, but the club has said it will appeal.
CEO's video message to staff
Soriano had not reached out to staff after the verdict was leaked on Friday and did not respond to media requests for comment at a sports conference in Copenhagen. He spoke at a private meeting there to make clear City would fight the verdict, and sent a video message lasting nearly four minutes to all club staff on Tuesday evening.
In the message, he said the whole case was based on one false piece of evidence and insisted City would emerge victorious from the appeals process. He cited the overturning of the UEFA verdict in 2020 as he urged everyone at the club to stick together.
Soriano's full statement
“I want to share some information related to the ongoing disciplinary process between Manchester City and the Premier League. A document has been made public with an opinion of the Premier League commission that is negative to our interests. I want to explain exactly what this is, the next steps and how we are going to continue to defend the club, and finally be vindicated in this process.
“This has gone for so long that it is important to remind ourselves that the whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation – that the owners' personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi. This is just not true.
“Irrefutable evidence has been provided to the Premier League commission that shows that it could not happen and that it did not happen. This includes bank statements, money transfers, witnesses and everything necessary to categorically demonstrate that the money did not come from the owner. Every other false charge that has been thrown at us – and aggressively marketed and promoted – comes from the simple, central, and completely false accusation.
“Surprisingly for us, and for our lawyers, after nearly two years the Premier League Commission has introduced an opinion that supports the Premier League's conspiracy theory. To do so, the opinion had to ignore the extensive evidence provided by the club in order to reach a conclusion that is clearly wrong.
Appeal and next steps
“Our lawyers will now file an appeal that sets out the opinion contains clear material errors of law, principle and fact and it is unsafe. Remember we have been here before. In 2020 we were also wrongly ruled against for many of the same issues. We appealed to an independent body in CAS and we won.
“We will now be relentless in our work. We will focus on the independent appeal process and also all other legal avenues available to us in order to win the case, and we will take all necessary action to protect the club and seek compensation from any party that tries to damage it now, and in the future.
“I know this can be a bit of a distraction but please remain focused on our business and take care of our extended City family as we always do. Please follow the normal protocols in referring to fan, partner and media enquiries. Very soon we will look back at this and recognise it is another time in our history when we dealt with adversity and overcame it together.”
