Manchester City are preparing for their Premier League clash against Liverpool, but there is still a lot going on in the background surrounding their charges. It was confirmed last week that the club were found guilty of 114 breaches of Premier League financial rules.
A Premier League statement said that the independent panel found that City had used ‘sham’ sponsorship deals between 2009 and 2018 to inflate their revenue and therefore avoid breaching Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. It’s something that City have always denied, and the club submitted an appeal last week as they fight to prove their innocence. Both they and the Premier League will submit evidence to a new three-person independent panel.
If City’s appeal is unsuccessful and the guilty verdict stands, the club faces various possible punishments, including fines, points deductions, transfer bans, or relegation from the Premier League. It seems that there is still a lot to happen before the situation reaches its conclusion. Here’s a look at the latest:
Pep Guardiola's return
Former City boss Pep Guardiola will make his first return to the Etihad Stadium since leaving, for Wednesday night’s Champions League clash against Paris Saint-Germain. The Spaniard showed his support to City on social media the day after the guilty verdicts were confirmed.
He wrote: "I want every single fan to know I am here; more than ever. I am, always have been, always will, be behind my club, my owner, my chairman, Ferran [Soriano, CEO], the players, staff, Enzo [Maresca] and you, our unique supporters. Let me be clear: we will get through this together. I love you all." In another public backing, Guardiola will be in attendance for the game against PSG.
Double punishment
City face the possibility of a second punishment if the guilty verdict on the charges is upheld on appeal, with Sky Sports reporting that UEFA are keeping a close eye on the situation. The governing body will reportedly decide whether to take action once a final outcome is reached.
City were handed a two-year ban from European football back in 2020 after being found guilty of breaching UEFA’s financial fair play rules. The club, however, had the ban overturned on appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS). The report says that the Premier League had access to documents and evidence that were not available to UEFA when they were building their own case against City in 2020.
Dressing room message
The City dressing room has been given assurances from the club that ‘sporting justice’ will prevail, according to the agent of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. The full squad return to training for the first time since the verdict on Thursday, as they prepare for Sunday’s Premier League clash vs Liverpool.
Speaking to Radio Napoli Centrale, Enzo Raiola said: "Will the Manchester City chaos change anything? No, nothing will change for us or for Gigio. News comes out periodically. The club has spoken with Gigio and everyone is calm. Now there are important games against Liverpool and PSG, then sporting justice will take its course. But Gigio has had reassurances from Manchester City."
HMRC investigation
City were reportedly investigated by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in 2018 over possible tax evasion. The Financial Times reports that a civil investigation was opened on the club’s tax affairs following the leak of emails by Der Spiegel in the same year.
The report says that the investigation was never formally closed, after being conducted under the Code of Practice 8 investigation, which do not involve suspicions of deliberate fraud. City had external lawyers advise them on the situation. HMRC took no action amid the probe.
Former captain speaks out
Former City captain Kyle Walker has said that memories of the success he had with City can’t be taken away, despite the possibility of titles being stripped. The full-back was a key player between 2017 and 2025, winning the Champions League and 13 domestic trophies during his eight years at the club.
Speaking to talkSPORT, he said: “Obviously it doesn’t look great. I know it’s in an appeal stage so, for me to start commenting on the legal action and everything like that, probably it’s not going to do myself justice or anyone involved in it. But, at a personal level, I can say the lads, we spent many and many a great year celebrating many trophies and everything like that and that’s something that, whatever happens, they can’t take away from us because we’ve experienced them nights. So, whatever will be, will be, and it’s just down to the appeal now and what goes from there.”
He added: “It’s something that we probably don’t want to talk about because we want to be looked upon as winning them trophies, winning them the right way. It’s very difficult because we’ve worked very hard for them, and not just us, I look at the fans as well. I look at the fans that have travelled up and down the country, travelled abroad to Istanbul when we won the treble and stuff like that, and they deserve that night as well.”
