Guardiola demands apology after Man City overturn Euro ban

Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - April 17, 2019 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts REUTERS

Pep Guardiola says Manchester City deserve an apology after successfully overturning their European ban but rival managers Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp criticised the ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

CAS on Monday lifted a two-year ban imposed earlier this year on the Premier League club by European football’s governing body UEFA over alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules between 2012 and 2016.

Guardiola feels the club proved their innocence after years of accusations related to their financial strength and says it is time for others to accept their place among the elite is merited.

“I am incredibly happy for the decision. It shows all the people said about the club wasn’t true,” the City boss told a pre-match press conference. 

“We should be being apologised to,” he added. “If we did something wrong we would accept, absolutely, the decisions from UEFA and CAS.”

The City boss has hit out at rival clubs for what he believes was a “whispering” campaign to discredit them.

“We don’t expect Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea or Wolves, or all the clubs, to defend us but we have the right to defend ourselves when we believe what we have done is correct, and three independent judges said this,” he said.

– ‘Disaster’ –

Tottenham manager Mourinho said the court’s decision was a “disaster” and showed FFP, which limits club’s spending in line with their revenue, was now dead, while Liverpool boss Klopp said City’s reprieve was a bad day for football.

City were punished by UEFA in February over “serious breaches” of FFP regulations but immediately contested the ban.

CAS found that City had failed to cooperate with UEFA authorities but said the club “did not disguise equity funding as sponsorship contributions”.

UEFA recognised in a statement that many of the allegations fell outside the five-year time limit in its own regulations.

An initial fine of 30 million euros ($34 million, £27 million) imposed by UEFA was reduced to 10 million euros by CAS. However, the fine related only to City’s failure to cooperate with UEFA’s investigation rather than FFP breaches.

Mourinho said if they were guilty, City should be banned — but if they were innocent, they should not have to pay a penny.

“It’s a disgraceful decision, because if Man City is not guilty then to be punished with some millions is a disgrace. If you are not guilty, you are not punished. By the other way if you are guilty you should be banned so it is also a disgraceful decision. In any case the decision is a disaster,” said Mourinho.