MANCHESTER CITY’s Prem rivals are furious about Pep Guardiola’s public attack on them.
Guardiola used his press conference ahead of the clash with Aston Villa to accuse the other 19 clubs of orchestrating the charges for breaking Financial Fair Play rules.
ReutersManchester City’s Premier League rivals are fuming at Pep Guardiola’s attack on them[/caption]
The City chief singled out Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy.
And he claimed that the Etihad outfit had unfairly been condemned over charges of which they had been “proved completely innocent” in their ultimately victorious fight with Uefa over similar allegations in 2020.
But with club bosses now fearing it will take four years for the final verdict to be known this time, Guardiola’s attack has fuelled the anger of other clubs.
They accept that City were cleared of the substantive charges by a majority verdict of the Court of Arbitration for Sport three years ago.
But, privately, they are pointing out City were found to have committed a “severe breach” and showed “blatant disregard” for the expectation of cooperation with the Uefa investigation.
Among the 115 alleged breaches cited by the Premier League were no fewer than five similar charges, relating to each season — up to the current one — since the investigation was opened in December 2018.
Clubs from both ends of the Premier League have put their other differences aside to unite in welcoming the decision to charge City.
One club boss said: “We’ve all had our suspicions about them for a very long time.
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“And there is a feeling that this could be when the chickens come home to roost.”
Prem chief executive Richard Masters pushed the button to confirm that the charges should be laid.
And clubs were initially pushing for a swift outcome and a verdict by the start of this summer.
But the anticipated elongated timetable was a major reason why the clubs opted not to confront City’s chief exec Ferran Soriano head-on during meetings which ran over two days at a central London hotel.
Club chiefs believe City’s aggressive legal approach, as demonstrated in their drawn-out battle with Uefa that was eventually won in 2020, will be repeated this time.
League bosses have handed over the running of the case to Judicial Panel chairman, Murray Rosen KC.
He will appoint the three-member, Judge-led commission.
It means the League has no powers to order a speeded-up process, as the majority of top-flight clubs wanted.
And the view emerging from the clubs is that it is more than likely the final outcome of the City case will not come until 2027.
Another club chief said: “Nobody thinks it is going to be settled anytime soon.
“We all expect we are going to have a long wait for the ultimate decision.”