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What Pep Guardiola said about Man City FFP charges amid Arsenal wait as hearing to begin

Manchester City Manager Pep Guardiola before the Premier League match between West Ham United FC and Manchester City FC at London Stadium on August 31, 2024.
-Credit: (Image: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)


It's finally set to happen. On Monday, Manchester City will face the charges brought against them by the Premier League back in early 2023.

The club are facing serious accusations, amounting to 54 counts of failing to provide accurate financial information between 2009/10 to 2017/18, 14 counts of failing to provide accurate details for player and manager payments from 2009/10 to 2017/18, five counts of failing to comply with UEFA's rules including Financial Fair Play (FFP) between 2013/14 to 2017/18, seven counts of breaching the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability rules between 2015/16 and 2017/18, and 35 counts of failing to co-operate with the Premier League's investigation between December 2018 and February 2023.

City have consistently and strongly denied the charges, and will defend themselves at an independent hearing beginning on Monday at an undisclosed location. The proceedings will reportedly take around 10 weeks with a verdict expected early in 2025.

With such serious accusations, any penalties City could face would certainly be severe if found guilty. They would range from fines to points deductions and even expulsion from the Premier League if found guilty of the most serious accusations.

With the hearing finally set to take place, it was inevitable that Pep Guardiola would be asked about the case ahead of his club's Premier League clash against Brentford this weekend. And the City manager maintained that he and his players have not been focusing on the circus surrounding the club.

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"I'm not a lawyer," Guardiola said. "There are many lawyers in this country, in Spain; there are many lawyers. But I wait. We are going to wait and we are going to see."

When asked whether he speaks about it with his players or people around the club, Guardiola said: "No. I am saying: we are not lawyers. Erling is not a lawyer, no. So we don't talk about that. It is going to happen, an independent panel and we're going to accept the sentence.

"I don't talk about [people around the club]. I don't talk about them. We see. I'm happy that it starts on Monday and I know you'll hear more rumours and new specialists about sentences that come up. We're going to see.

"I know people are looking forward to it, I know what they are expecting, I know. What I read for many, many years. But I'm set. Everybody is innocent until guilt is proven. So we'll see."