By CNN
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said on Saturday he is “happy” that a hearing into the club’s more than 100 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules begins on Monday.
According to multiple media reports, the hearing starts on Monday and is expected to last around 10 weeks.
The club was charged in February 2023 after a four-year investigation, with the Premier League alleging that City failed to provide accurate financial information between the 2009-10 season and the 2017-18 season.
The league also accuses City of failing to comply with UEFA’s financial fair play (FFP) regulations between 2013-14 and 2017-18 and failing to follow Premier League rules on profit and sustainability between 2015-16 and 2017-18.
If found guilty, the club could face a points deduction, an unlimited fine, or even expulsion from the league entirely, according to the Premier League’s handbook.
“I am happy that it starts on Monday,” Guardiola said in a press conference ahead of the Citizens’ 2-1 victory against Brentford on Saturday. “I know there will be more rumors and new specialists about the sentences will come up. We are going to see. I know what people are looking for, I know what they are expecting.”
Guardiola continued: “Everybody is innocent until guilt is proven. An independent panel will decide, and I’m looking forward to the decision.”
The Premier League has faced criticism over how long it has taken for the hearing to begin. In May 2023, Guardiola said: “What I would like is that the Premier League or the judges could make [a decision] as soon as possible. Then, if we did something wrong, everyone will know it.
“Hopefully, they are not so busy and the judges can see it and listen to both sides and… decide what is the best, because in the end I know fairly what we won we won on the pitch because we deserve it,” he added.
City Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak was also irked with the wait. “That’s very frustrating because it takes so much (away) from the great work that’s happening in this club and it’s happening not just on the football pitch,” he said in June 2023 after the club won a historic treble earlier that year.
Neither City nor the Premier League would comment on the hearing when contacted by CNN. Last month, Premier League CEO Richard Masters told the BBC that it is “important the situation does resolve itself,” adding that it’s “self-evident the case needs to be heard.”
In 2020, City was initially banned from European soccer for two seasons for “serious breaches” of FFP regulations. The ban was later overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which also reduced the accompanying $34 million fine to $11.3 million, ruling that City had failed to cooperate with UEFA.
The hearing over the over 100 alleged charges is not the only dispute between City and the Premier League. The Times reported that City initiated legal action in June 2024 over the league’s Associated Party Transaction rules, which require commercial and sponsorship deals involving companies owned by or associated with the same club’s owners to be independently assessed by the league.
CNN’s Aleks Klosok and Amanda Davies contributed to reporting.
