Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has spoken publicly for the first time since the club faced charges from the Premier League.
On the 10th (Korean time), coach Guardiola was bombarded with questions about the Man City prosecution at a pre-press conference with Aston Villa in the 23rd round of the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2022-2023 season.
he was calm He answered each question in a calm tone. “We live in a country where everyone is presumed innocent until they are lucky enough to be convicted,” Guardiola said. “But we didn’t get a chance. We’ve already been먹튀검증 sentenced.”
“We have good lawyers, but UEFA doesn’t have bad lawyers. And 19 other teams in the Premier League will have good lawyers to defend their case.”
“If we did something illegal, we would accept the decision of the judges and the Premier League,” Guardiola said. ” he asked.
Manchester City were previously banned from European club competitions for two seasons and fined 30 million euros for violating the Financial Fair Play (FFP) rule by UEFA. However, in July 2020, after an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the ban was lifted and the fine was reduced to 10 million euros. CAS gave Man City a virtual immunity for reasons such as insufficient evidence and the expiration of the statute of limitations.
Two years later, this month, controversy erupted again when the Premier League prosecuted Man City for the same FFP violation. Manchester City are accused of breaching more than 100 fiscal rules between 2009 and 2018.
As a result, local media observe that if Man City is found guilty, it can receive severe punishment such as maximum demotion and reduction of points.
Guardiola, the head of the squad, protested in an unusually strong tone. At the time of the UEFA prosecution case, he clearly mentioned the nine teams who wanted Manchester City to leave. Tottenham, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Wolverhampton, Newcastle, Burnley, Leicester, Manchester United. “There are no friends or enemies on this floor. There are only interests,” he said. “Against 19 teams, we are alone.”
He also issued a warning message, saying, “Be careful. There may be other teams like us who are accused of not being convicted. Who knows what the future holds?”
At the same time, he joked that even if Manchester City were relegated to the second, third or regional leagues, they could ‘summon’ Paul Dickoff and Mike Summerby (former Manchester City players) and promote again. However, he emphasized that he would do his best to defend it until a final decision is made.
He said in a firm tone that he would not leave about his future course of action.