Roberto Mancini appeared to acknowledge he had “a double contract” when he managed Manchester City after the club were found guilty of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules.
But Mancini, who in 2011-12 coached City to their first Premier League title in a half century and is now in charge of Italy, also said that what is developing potentially into the biggest scandal in English football history was “not a problem that concerns me”.
Among the raft of charges that City faced is an alleged failure to provide accurate details for player and manager payments between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. The German magazine Der Spiegel in 2018 published evidence showing that Mancini doubled his base salary of £1.45m for advising a club in Abu Dhabi.
Mancini led City to their first titles after Abu Dhabi’s ruling family bought the club in 2008, also winning the FA Cup in 2011. He was fired by City days after a shocking loss to Wigan in the FA Cup final in 2013.
Mancini was asked about his contract with City at Italy’s news conference in Turkey before a Nations League match on Monday.
“It’s not a problem that concerns me,” Mancini said. “Anyhow, it’s not something new, because every four or five years this comes up. Manchester City is not guilty and the fact of having a double contract isn’t my problem but theirs, probably.”
City said on Friday that their case with the Premier League was “ongoing.” They have always denied wrongdoing and the chair, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, restated that stance in a letter to fans on Saturday.
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“The Premier League process still has a long way to run, and our confidence and intent in proving the club’s innocence is just as strong as when this began,” he said.