Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has stood firm on his earlier verdict regarding Manchester City's title prospects, admitting he would feel uneasy accepting a Premier League winners' medal given the ongoing speculation that the club could be stripped of their titles.
City were found guilty of all but one of the charges brought against them by the Premier League, but have lodged an appeal against the independent commission's ruling and maintained their innocence throughout.
Rooney's verdict on City's situation
Speaking on Match of The Day, Rooney said: "They could be fighting for the title or fighting for relegation. No-one knows where it's going to end up."
"It's a bad situation to be in but as far as the players are concerned, all they can do is go out and try and do their job on the pitch. As I said before, the powers above them and the independent panel will decide what happens in terms of the punishment. They can only go out and play, and try to beat what's in front of them."
Rooney's stance on a retrospective medal
Asked by Match of the Day host Kelly Cates whether he'd accept a retrospective title winners' medal with United having finished runners-up to City during the period relating to the charges, Rooney said: "It's difficult. I look at it from the players' point of view. I'm assuming all the players didn't know what was going on."
"They went onto the football pitch and won the league, while we finished second. We didn't finish first. Why would we want a medal for finishing second?"
Rooney previously admitted he wouldn't be comfortable in accepting a winners' medal. "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."
"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."
Appeals process and wider impact
Former Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld also appeared on the BBC show and made reference to the '12 week' appeals process. He said: "It's difficult. You think about what kind of team we (Spurs) would have played against if they didn't spend all those millions. It's a big question mark and we're not going to get answers (at the moment)."
"We can only look to the future and hopefully never get in this situation again. It's a big situation not only in the Premier League but all over the world. It's not good for football."
"Hopefully we get an answer very quickly, not in 12 weeks, not in one or two years. The quicker the better."
