'We've been condemned', Man City's Guardiola charges
2023-02-11 13:23The Manchester City boss believes the club have been " rebuked " after being accused of breaching financial rules more than 100 times by the Premier League since 2009 .
Speaking for the first time since the defending champions were accused this week, Guardiola delivered an impassioned defense of the club he joined in 2016 and with which he led to four Premier League titles.
He also said the charges were brought by other Premier League clubs and that if City were found guilty and, at worst, relegated, they would accept punishment and try to return to the top flight.
" My first thought is that we have been condemned, " Guardiola told a news conference ahead of this weekend's home game against Aston Villa.
" It's the same thing that happened after UEFA's allegations. These are just allegations. Together with UEFA the club is proven completely innocent. We are lucky that we live in a wonderful country where everyone is guilty until proven guilty. Innocent.
" We didn't have that chance, we've already been sentenced. "
"Football Leaked"
The charges against City stem from a Premier League investigation into their financial dealings four years ago, after German magazine Der Spiegel published a batch of " football leaks " documents.
City were subsequently banned from the Champions League by European governing body UEFA for two years, but successfully appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) , which overturned the ban in 2020 .
" We have a good lawyer, not that UEFA has bad lawyers. And I think the Premier League, which is backed by 19 teams, also has good lawyers to defend their positions.
" I would love to wait and see what happens, but just in case we are not innocent we will accept the decision of the judges and the Premier League.
" But if the same happens with UEFA and we are innocent, how can we recover or compensate us for our losses? "
defend what you think is right
City have won the Premier League six times since Abu Dhabi took over with Pep Guardiola, suggesting their success means rival clubs have agendas against them.
" Of course, it's the Premier League. I don't know why, you have to go to all the chief executives and all these people and ask them, " he said.
Guardiola also warned that other clubs should look at their own affairs before condemning City.
"What they do to us is to be careful in the future because many clubs could be accused like we were accused, " the Spain coach said.
" They're pushing to get us out of the game, it's obvious because they think we're behaving inappropriately. We accept that, but when we think we're doing the right thing, let's defend it. "
The charges against Manchester City, which were the world's top revenue-generating club last season according to Deloitte, will be heard by an independent committee.
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