Mueez Ajao
– Manchester City’s achievements will always “belong to us” even if the club is stripped of its Premier League titles, says manager Pep Guardiola.
– The Premier League has charged City with more than 100 breaches of its financial rules between 2009 and 2018.
– During that time, City won three Premier League titles, one of which was under Spaniard Guardiola.
Also Read: Guardiola fires back at Man City critics amid charges
– “Nobody can remove it, the feelings, the good moments, the bad moments,” he said.
– The first of City’s titles came in 2012 through Sergio Aguero’s memorable last-gasp winner on the final day against QPR, while in 2014 they finished first after a late run pipped Liverpool by two points.
– The Reds were top with three games left, but a slip by captain Steven Gerrard saw Demba Ba go on to score as Chelsea beat them 2-0 at Anfield. Liverpool then drew 3-3 at Crystal Palace after being 3-0 up, while City won all their remaining games.
– “Absolutely, they belong to us,” added Guardiola. “Regardless of the sentence, they belong to us.
– “The moment from Sergio Aguero, with (Mario) Balotelli slipping him in. I don’t know if we are responsible for Steven Gerrard slipping. In that situation at Anfield I didn’t want that, for respect for Steven Gerrard, but is it our fault?
– “The Premier League will decide but I know what we won, and the way we won it, with the effort we put in.
– “For something that happened in 2009 or 2010 – I don’t know how long ago it was – this is not going to change that one second.”
– The Premier League has referred City to an independent commission, who can impose punishments ranging from a fine and points deduction to expulsion from the league.
– The Premier League also accused City of not co-operating since the investigation started in December 2018.
– City, who were taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008, said they were “surprised” by the charges and are supported by a “body of irrefutable evidence”.
– On Friday, Guardiola claimed the other 19 top-flight clubs had been the driving force behind the charges implemented by the Premier League.
– In 2020, nine clubs – Burnley, Wolves, Leicester, Newcastle, Spurs, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea – wrote to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) to request City’s two-year European ban for contravening Uefa’s Financial Fair Play regulations was not delayed during their appeal process.
– Their request was dismissed and City won their appeal to Cas.
– Guardiola said jealousy is “part of the sport” and that “when a team is winning you want to beat them”.
– He added: “But what these nine teams have done, I don’t forget it. They want the position in the Champions League for the big amount of money to pay for the stadiums they built.
– “They can be suspicious, that is OK, but (they should) wait. We can go with our lawyers and say, ‘Listen, we have done this and this’, as happened with Uefa.
– “Wait, they didn’t. Not even one second.”
