Date finally set as Man City prepare to contest 115 charges - plus what Pep Guardiola has said on his future
The Blues face 115 charges relating to financial breaches, allegations the club strenuously deny.
A date has finally been set for the hearing into Manchester City’s 115 charges relating to alleged financial breaches.
The case, it is widely reported, is to be heard from Monday and could last a couple of months with a verdict due from the independent commission in the spring, all while the club will continue its defence of the Premier League title.
Pep Guardiola has famously already said that if Manchester City are found guilty by the Premier League in their landmark hearing, it would not result in him leaving the club. The Blues face 115 charges relating to financial breaches by the Premier League, allegations the club strenuously deny.
Sky Sports report: “City have been charged with breaking financial fair play rules over a nine-year period, which started in 2009 and went on until 2018. During that period, Man City - who have denied all the charges against them - won the Premier League three times.”
What has Man City boss Pep Guardiola previously said about the charges - and his future?
“My first thought is that we are already being condemned,” the former Barcelona manager said in February 2023, days after the charges had been brought against City. He pointed to Uefa’s Champions League ban - which was subsequently overturned - and also referenced the nine Premier League sides who opposed City’s initial attempt to suspend their sentence.
“Another side I would say we are lucky we live in a marvellous country where we have a society where everyone is innocent until proven guilty. We didn’t have this opportunity. We are already sentenced and tough. What is going to happen I don’t know,” he said.
Guardiola also claimed ‘the words of my chairman, my CEO, my people’ had assured him of City’s innocence, which will be determined in this season’s hearing.
But what if the Premier League champions are found guilty? “If we have to go to League Two or maybe the Conference. We are not a team with a long history or titles, we have been in the lower divisions and we will be back there,” was the Catalan’s unequivocal response.
“It's not a problem just in case. We'll get Paul Dickov and Mike Summerbee and we will do a good process and will be back I’m pretty sure.
“I am not moving from this seat,” a passionate Guardiola stated. “I can assure you, more than ever that I want to stay. Now I don’t want to move. Not because people say ‘they lied to you, Pep’. They didn’t lie to me. Look what happened with Uefa. I said to them ‘what happened?’. ‘Pep, we did nothing wrong. We proved it’. It is the same case.”