Pep Guardiola has issued a defiant message of support for Manchester City after the club was found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules and now faces the prospect of major sanctions.
Pep Guardiola has broken his silence after Manchester City were found guilty of serious breaches of Premier League financial rules, telling supporters: “We will get through this together.”
Pep Guardiolaplaceholder image
Pep Guardiola
The former City boss issued a defiant message of support after an independent commission concluded the club had deliberately circumvented financial rules during a nine-season period.
Manchester City now face the possibility of major sporting sanctions, potentially including a points deduction or even expulsion from the Premier League, although no punishment has yet been decided.
City have strongly rejected the findings and confirmed they intend to appeal.
Guardiola, who left the Etihad Stadium at the end of last season after a hugely successful decade in charge, made clear he remains firmly behind his former club.
Writing on the Pep Team account on X, he said: “I want every single @ManCity 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, the players, staff, Enzo and you, our unique supporters.
“Let me be clear: we will get through this together.
“I love you all.”
The intervention comes after the commission found City had used financial arrangements which artificially inflated revenues and reduced costs by more than £900 million between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.
It found the club operated a “disguised funding scheme” in which companies from Abu Dhabi contributed only part of sums recorded as commercial revenue, with the remaining money provided by Abu Dhabi United Group, the company through which Sheikh Mansour owns City.
The commission concluded this inflated City’s revenues by more than £830m.
It also found the club overstated income from image rights by almost £74m and understated liabilities connected with staff contracts by almost £17m.
City were additionally found to have made “concerted efforts” to frustrate the Premier League’s investigation.
The club insists it is innocent and said the commission’s opinion contains “clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe”.
Chief executive Ferran Soriano has also told City staff that the commission had accepted what he described as the Premier League’s “conspiracy theory”.
Attention will now turn to the potential punishment.
The same independent commission will consider what sanctions should follow, while City pursue their appeal.
The Times has reported that other Premier League clubs have contacted the league calling for the case to be resolved before the end of the season.
Any major sporting penalty would have huge consequences for a club which has dominated English football since Sheikh Mansour’s 2008 takeover, winning eight Premier League titles, six of them during Guardiola’s reign.