Former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has publicly defended the club in the wake of reports that an independent commission found them guilty on 114 of their alleged 115 Premier League financial rule breaches.
Jeremy Doku enjoyed his best season at Manchester City under Pep Guardiola last term.
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The 61-year-old Italian is among the most prominent figures to speak publicly in City's defence, having managed the club between 2009 and 2013 - a period that falls squarely within the nine-year window between 2009 and 2018 during which the alleged breaches are said to have taken place.
Mancini led Manchester City to their first top-flight title in 44 years in 2011/12, ending the club's long wait for league success and helping lay the foundations for the dominant era that followed under Pep Guardiola. His tenure at the Etihad Stadium now sits within the scope of the charges the independent commission has been examining.
The verdict itself, which emerged on 25 September 2026, arrived more than three and a half years after Manchester City were formally referred to an independent commission in February 2023.
Hearings were conducted over a six-week period between September and December 2024, with the commission returning its finding nearly two years after those proceedings concluded.
City have maintained throughout that they deny all wrongdoing, and sources close to the club have indicated they intend to contest the verdict through the appeals process, with full resolution of the case not expected until at least 2028 or 2029.
Tottenham's Andy Robertson, whose Liverpool side competed directly with City for Premier League titles under Jurgen Klopp, said at a Scotland press conference that the players themselves should be separated from the institutional findings.
Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak also broke his public silence, insisting that City's confidence in proving their innocence remains unchanged: "The Premier League process still has a long way to run, and our confidence and intent in proving the Club's innocence is just as strong as when this began."
Spain captain and former Manchester City midfielder Rodri has backed his former club's innocence following reports that the independent commission found City guilty on 114 of their alleged 115 Premier League financial rule breaches.cityxtra.co.uk"We Will Believe The Club" - Rodri Backs Man City's Innocence Despite Guilty Verdict Reports
Spain captain and former Manchester City midfielder Rodri has backed his former club's innocence following reports that the independent commission found City guilty on 114 of their alleged 115 Premier League financial rule breaches.
It's Not a Problem That Concerns Me, Says Mancini on Man City Charges
Speaking in a press conference over the weekend in response to news about the verdict, Mancini said: "I don't think Man City were found guilty, quite the opposite. It's not a problem that concerns me, and it isn't anything new. Man City are not guilty, and on the double contract it isn't my problem, theirs if anything."
Mancini's specific reference to "the double contract" is particularly notable given the nature of the charges.
Among the 115 allegations brought against Manchester City are accusations that the club provided incomplete disclosures of player and manager remuneration across the period from 2009 to 2015 - a window that directly overlaps with his three-and-a-half year tenure as manager.
The independent commission is understood to have found 114 of the 115 charges proven, with the single unproven allegation said to be among the most serious that City faced, a detail that has informed the club's internal confidence heading into the sanctions phase and any subsequent appeal.
What Has Been the Wider Reaction to the News About the Outcome of the Independent Commission Hearings?
The wider reaction to the verdict has been shaped by significant financial interests among rival clubs. Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United are among those preparing compensation claims collectively reported to be worth around £800 million, with Tottenham's individual claim alone said to be in the region of £200 million.
The basis for those claims rests on missed Champions League qualification and prize money that rival clubs argue was denied to them as a direct consequence of City's alleged rule breaches across the nine-year period.
Inside Manchester City, the mood has been remarkably different from the legal confidence projected publicly by the club's leadership. The atmosphere at the City Football Academy was described as "very solemn" in the immediate aftermath of the verdict, with staff expressing anxiety over job security and the potential employment consequences of sanctions that have not yet been determined.
The sanctions phase represents a separate stage of proceedings from the guilty finding itself, and no punishments have been decided, but the uncertainty has created significant unease across the workforce.
La Liga president Javier Tebas, who has been a public critic of what he considers state-backed financial distortion in European football since 2017, used the verdict to revisit his long-running position on financial regulation, stating that what had emerged once again demonstrated why economic control and equal rules for all clubs are essential to protect the integrity of the game.
The sanctions hearing before the independent commission is the next significant legal milestone in the case, ahead of what is expected to be a lengthy appeals process before a definitive outcome is reached.