Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.
Join today
Already a member?
Log in
Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano has told his fellow European club bosses the already lengthy legal battle with the Premier League will take “a lot more time” to conclude.
News broke on Friday that City had been found guilty of all but one of 115 charges they faced of breaching the league’s financial rules, immediately sparking speculation they could face unprecedented sanctions.
City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak told supporters in an open letter published on Saturday that the club were “confident” of proving their innocence, and chief executive Soriano addressed the elephant in the room when he met fellow members of the European Football Clubs board in Copenhagen on Monday.
It’s understood Soriano said at the end of the EFC board meeting that he felt he had to say something given Friday’s news, that City disagreed with the ruling but remained confident of winning and that the club were still fighting.
Sources in the meeting said Soriano then remarked: “It’s taken eight years to get here, and it’s going to take a lot more time.”
The “eight years” Soriano referred to was the opening of the league’s investigation into City in 2018.
Soriano, who declined to answer media questions as he exited the meeting, made the comments in the presence of some other English top-flight bosses, with Manchester United’s chief of international football relations Jean-Claude Blanc and Everton owner Dan Friedkin – there in his capacity as owner of Roma – also attending the meeting in the Danish capital.
Among the alleged breaches, all strenuously denied by City, was a charge of failing to provide full details of former manager Roberto Mancini’s pay between 2009-10 and 2012-13.
The 61-year-old, now in back in charge of Italy for a second stint, was quizzed about the charges at a press conference ahead of Monday’s Nations League match with Turkey in Bursa.
He said: “It’s not an issue that concerns me. It’s nothing new because this matter has been discussed for the last four or five years.”
The Premier League has declined to comment since news of the verdict emerged last week, and Mancini continued: “Manchester City has not been found guilty, and the alleged double contract is not my concern. It’s their issue, not mine.”
City were charged with failing to report accurate financial information for nine seasons from 2009 – the year Mancini took over.
They were also charged with failing to provide full details of remuneration in contracts with players between 2010-11 and 2015-16, and with failing to co-operate with the Premier League’s investigation over a period from 2018 to 2023.
A City spokesperson said on Friday: “The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality.
“As such Manchester City FC’s position remains consistent with the club’s statement of February 2023.
“The club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League board and executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence.”
Under Mancini, City won the FA Cup in 2011 and their first top-flight title in 44 years in 2012.
Former Liverpool midfielder and manager Graeme Souness claimed the reputation City have built is now worthless and their honours record should be expunged.
“The legacy is gone,” he told Track Radio.
“If it goes the wrong way for them they’ll be consigned to history that they were cheats and whatever they did, whatever they won in that period, should not count.
“There’s an argument for Liverpool to have a couple of Premier Leagues given to them.
“For them (City), money’s not an issue so whatever fine is just like a scratch in the surface.
“Relegation? I don’t know. This is going to open a can of worms, which I think may go well beyond the realms of football.”