Football NewsFerran Soriano defends Manchester City from the CAS
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Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano has defended the club after UEFA banned the club from the Champions League.

Man City finances are always correctly declared

CEO of Man City Ferran Soriano defended the club’s financial performance following their two-season European ban. The current Premier League champions suspended from continental competition, as well as a fine of € 30 million (£ 32 / $ 25 million) from UEFA last week for violating Financial Fair Play (FFP), rules from 2012 to 2016. After an in-depth investigation, the UEFA Club Financial Supervisory Authority (CFCB) Trial Chamber found City guilty of “overstating its sponsorship revenue” in that period. The club, in response to sanctions, promised to appeal the final decision “as soon as possible.” And Ferran now issued an official statement in which he denied the charges against City, insisting that all the money put into the club was always “correctly declared.”

Soriano says that City’s accounts checked many times

He told journalists: “The most important thing I have to say today is that the charges are not true. They are not true.”The owner did not invest in this club money that not correctly stated. We are a stable football club. City are profitable. We have no debt; our accounts have been checked many times by auditors, regulators, investors, and this is completely clear.” We have presented a long list of documents and evidence. This, in our opinion, is irrefutable evidence that the allegations were untrue. So it was difficult because we did it in the context of the leak of information in the media in the context of the feeling that every step of the way. Every time we took part, we felt that we considered guilty before anything was even analyzed.

Pep is aimed at his tasks at the Etihad Stadium

“But in the end, this is an inner procedure that was initiated and then prosecuted, and then tried by this FFP chamber in UEFA.” Ferran went to the appeal process, insisting that this be a “case as usual” for Man City until the Court hears their case of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). He said: “We are looking for a speedy solution, obviously, through a thorough process and a fair process, so I hope that it will be completed before the beginning of summer and until then, for us, this is as usual.” Pep Guardiola’s position in City was under close attention throughout the campaign 2019-2020, and it suggested that he could quit the club if their European ban is upheld.

 

Soriano is adamant that the 49-year-old specialist is still entirely aimed at his tasks at the Etihad Stadium, in spite of ongoing speculation, as he added: “Clearly, he was informed about this process, but that’s not what can he answer.” He focused on football; he is focused on the game, the game at hand, the game today, tomorrow, and the coming weeks. “They are calm, they are concentrated, and this business is more legal, legal than football.” Soriano finally conveyed a word to City supporters, promising to do “everything that can be done to prove” the club’s innocence in the coming months.

“Fans can be sure of two things. First, the allegations are false,” Ferran said. “And the second – we will do everything we can to prove it. We know that the fans support us. Manchester City fans have gone through challenges for decades. This is just one more task. We’ll stick together. We’ll go through this and not let the fans down.”