Pep Guardiola, Manchester City’s manager, claims rival Premier League clubs are keen to see his team face consequences for alleged financial rule breaches.
Guardiola expresses relief that the hearing into City’s 115 charges will commence on Monday.
In February 2023, City were charged and referred to an independent commission after a four-year probe.
The club is accused of violating Premier League financial regulations between 2009 and 2018.
City firmly reject all charges, stating their case is backed by “a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence”.
Javier Tebas, La Liga’s president, has long criticised City, owned by the Abu Dhabi-backed City Football Group. He’s repeatedly labelled them and Qatar-backed PSG as state clubs engaging in “financial doping”.
Tebas claims he’s spoken with numerous Premier League clubs and believes they want to see the current champions penalised.
“I’ve chatted with many Premier League clubs and most reckon City should face sanctions,” he was quoted saying in Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo.
Responding on Friday, former Barcelona boss Guardiola said: “For once, I agree with Tebas. All Premier League teams want us punished, that’s clear. But I say to Mr Tebas and the Premier League teams, wait for the independent panel. Justice exists in a modern democracy. It’s that simple. I don’t know if he’s a lawyer or if the other Premier League teams are lawyers, so I ask for that. It happened with Uefa. We believe we’ve done nothing wrong.”
Dubbed sport’s ‘trial of the century’, it’s expected to last 10 weeks – with a verdict likely in early 2025.
The Premier League has also accused the reigning champions of not cooperating with its investigation.
When the Premier League probe began, City said the allegations were “entirely false” and that claims originally published in German newspaper Der Spiegel came from “illegal hacking and out of context publication of City emails”.
If found guilty of the most serious charges, City could face a points deduction severe enough to relegate them – or even expel them – from the Premier League.
Since their 2008 Abu Dhabi takeover, City have clinched eight league titles, multiple cups and the Champions League.
“The hearing kicks off soon and hopefully wraps up quickly,” Guardiola remarked. “An independent panel will make the call, and I’m eager to hear their verdict.
“I’m pleased it’s starting Monday. I’m aware there’ll be more speculation, new experts weighing in. We’ll see. I know what people are anticipating, what they expect, I understand, from what I’ve read over the years.
“Everyone’s innocent until proven guilty. So, we’ll wait and see.”
