Wayne Rooney has said he would not feel comfortable accepting another Premier League medal, thus disagreeing with former Manchester United team-mate Rio Ferdinand.
Rooney’s comments come after it was reported by The Athletic that an independent commission has ruled Manchester City to be guilty of all but one of the 115 charges against them relating to breaches of Premier League financial regulations.
Charges and Potential Sanctions
The 115 alleged FFP breaches cover a nine-year period between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, where Man City were crowned Premier League champions on three separate occasions.
While a decision on potential sanctions has yet to be reached, a wide range of punishments said to be on the table from substantial fines to points deductions or even possibly expulsion from the Premier League or the retrospective stripping of titles.
United's 2011-12 Title Claim
If Man City were to be retrospectively stripped of the trophies won during the aforementioned period Man United would possibly be awarded the 2011-12 Premier League crown, after being pipped to the title by their rivals on goal difference on the final day of the season thanks to Sergio Aguero’s iconic stoppage time winning goal against Queens Park Rangers.
Ferdinand, himself, has stated on social media that he believes ‘another Premier League medal’ should be added to his trophy cabinet and the same applies to David De Gea, who would also be in line for the 2017-18 crown.
Rooney's Verdict
However, Rooney insists that possible scenario would not feel right, saying United did not deserve to win the league in 2012.
“I have heard Rio has come out saying about getting another Premier League medal... I wouldn’t really feel comfortable accepting another Premier League medal, if I’m being honest,” said Rooney on the Stick To United podcast.
“I don’t think we deserve it, we didn’t do enough that season to win the league. I think we were six or seven points clear with four or five games to go and we threw it away.
“I’ve seen everything that has come out over the past few days and listening to people and I was putting myself in a Man City player’s shoes.
“They’re players, they’re doing everything they can to try and win the Premier League title and in their mind they have done it, if those players have no understanding of what is going on above them, if that happened to me... I would be absolutely devastated.
“It might happen, they might take them [medals] away, but I wouldn’t want it [a medal] because I don’t think as a team we deserved it that year because obviously we didn’t finish first. So when I see team-mates saying I want a medal’, I’m happy with the five I’ve won. I wouldn’t want this one.
“Should they get it stripped for what the owners have done? Yeah maybe, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable accepting it.”
