Just a few days ago, Pep Guardiola he boasted that his team is the “fifth or sixth” in net expense in the Premier League. A defense that served to attack Chelsea and his excessive investment and that it was turned against him this Monday with the bomb of the Premier League: the competition has accused Manchester City of‘a hundred financial irregularities in the accounts.
The Premier League has revealed this early Monday that since March 2019 it has been investigating City’s irregularities, the main shareholder of Girona FCand that these will pass to one independent commission which will be the one to decide what punishment – if it deserves it – the Manchester club will have to endure.
The investigation is unprecedented in the Premier League and as explained by the league in a statement the irregularities committed exceed a hundred and date from 2009a year after the club was bought by the investment fund ofAbu Dhabi and began the rain of millions that has placed the City in the place of privilege where it is today; with six Premier Leagues in 15 yearsin addition toa dozen titles between cups and super cupsand the first final of the Champions League of his history.
The English competition accuses City of not having given “truthful information” about their income, especially those related to sponsorship -it should be remembered that the City has commercial agreements with Abu Dhabi companies such as Etihad Airways-, as well as their operational costs.
It is also explained, in a detailed statement published by the Premier, that the City did not report the remuneration that Roberto Mancini he received as City manager between the 2009-2010 and 2012-2013 seasons. The Premier alleges that she also did not receive the full details of the player contracts between the 2010-2011 and 2015-2016 seasons.
Manchester City, according to the Premier, would not have met the requirements either UEFA financial fair play rules between 2013 and 2018 and would have gone against the rules of profitability and sustainability of the Premier League between the 2015-2016 and 2017-2018 campaigns. The English team would also not have cooperated and assisted us to the Premier in this investigation.
This is not the first time Manchester City have come under suspicion. In February 2020 UEFA sanctioned the club with two years without being able to participate in European competitions for breaking financial ‘fair play’ by presenting irregularities in their sponsorship income.
The case dragged on for several months, until the European Court of Arbitration ruled in July 2020 lift the penaltydespite the fact that nine Premier League clubs, incl Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal i Tottenham Hotspurthey asked the court not to give in.
“This decision is a disaster and a disgrace for football,” then Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho said. “It’s not good for the sport,” added Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp.
“We were accused. I don’t forget it,” Guardiola recalled last week. “Eight or nine teams sent a letter to the Premier League to ban us from competing. That didn’t happen to us. And we are the fifth team in net spending in the last five years. This is the reality,” said the Spanish coach.