Just a few days ago,
Pep Guardiola
boasted that his team is "fifth or sixth" in net spending in the Premier League.
A defense that served to attack Chelsea and its excessive investment and that has turned against it this Monday with the Premier League bomb: the competition has accused Manchester City of
a hundred financial irregularities in their accounts.
The Premier League revealed this Monday morning that it has been investigating City's irregularities since March 2019 and that these will go to an independent commission that will decide what punishment -if it deserves it- the Manchester club will have to endure, which could go from economic sanctions to the loss of points in the standings, as just happened to Juventus.
The investigation is unprecedented in the field of the Premier League and, as the league explained in a statement, the irregularities committed exceed one hundred and date back to 2009, a year after the club was
bought by the Abu Dhabi investment fund
and began the rain of millions that has placed City in the privileged place it is today;
with
six Premier League in 15 years
, in addition to a dozen titles between cups and super cups, and the first Champions League final in its history.
Erling Haaland laments a missed opportunity in the last game against Tottenham.Kin CheungAP
The English competition accuses the City of not having given "true information" about its 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 its operational costs.
It is also explained, in a detailed statement published by the Premier, that City did not report the remuneration that
Roberto Mancini
received as City manager between the 2009-2010 and 2012-2013 seasons.
The Premier alleges that it also did not receive full details of the players' contracts between the 2010-2011 and 2015-2016 seasons.
Manchester City, according to the Premier, would not have complied with UEFA's financial 'fair play' rules between 2013 and 2018 and would have gone against the Premier's profitability and sustainability rules between the 2015-2016 and 2017 campaigns. 2018.
The English team would not have cooperated or assisted the Premier in this investigation either.
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 the financial 'fair play' by presenting irregularities in its sponsorship income.
Disinfection of a corner flag at the City stadium.Martin RickettAP
The case lasted several months, until the European Court of Arbitration decided in July 2020 to lift the sanction, despite the fact that nine Premier League clubs, including
Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur
, asked the court not to give in
"This decision is a disaster and a disgrace for football," Tottenham's then manager
José Mourinho
said .
"It's not good for the sport," added
Jürgen Klopp
, Liverpool manager.
"We were accused. I don't forget it," Guardiola
recalled last week
.
"Eight or nine teams sent a letter to the Premier League to prohibit us from competing. That did not happen to us. And we are the fifth team in net spending in the last five years. That is the reality," said the Spanish coach.
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