Man City found guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of financial rules, Premier League says
A statement from the English Premier League said an independent commission found that the club had arranged "sham" contracts and agreements to artificially inflate its revenues and reduce its costs.
Former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has stated that his former club does not deserve Premier League winner's medals if Manchester City are stripped of their titles for violating financial regulations. City are alleged to have been found guilty of nearly all 115 financial misconduct charges filed against them by the Premier League.
The club's chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, maintains his confidence in proving the club's innocence. City is anticipated to contest the eventual penalty, which has not been disclosed yet and may include a points deduction, expulsion from the Premier League, or a significant fine. There have also been calls for City to forfeit their eight Premier League titles won since 2008.
Rooney, who was part of the United team that finished as runners-up in 2012 after Sergio Aguero's decisive late goal for City against QPR on the final day of the season, does not believe United or any other team should accept medals if they end up in second place. Rooney told the "Stick to United" podcast: "I wouldn't feel comfortable about accepting another Premier League medal if I'm being honest, because I don't think we deserve it.
We didn't do enough that season to win the league." Rooney acknowledged that he would be devastated if any of United's medals were ever taken away due to factors beyond his control. He added: "If that happened to me, if all of a sudden Manchester United had been doing the same and my Premier League medal had been taken away, I would be absolutely devastated."
Rooney emphasized that he would not accept a medal from United if it were stripped from him since he doesn't think the team deserved it that season due to their poor league finish. He concluded: "So when I see ex-team-mates and other people saying 'I want a medal,' I'm happy with the five I've won. I wouldn't want this one, just 15 years later you get a medal because City cheated."
Should they get it stripped for what the owners have done? Rooney suggests that it might be warranted, but he wouldn't feel comfortable accepting it.
Written by urgent.news from Yahoo Sports's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- Manchester City Found Guilty of All Premier League Financial Charges en.tempo.co
- Rooney opposes stripping Man City's league titles over financial breaches nst.com.my
- Premier League Confirms Manchester City Found Guilty of All Serious Charges frontofficesports.com
- Manchester City found guilty on all Premier League charges over rule breaches theguardian.com
- Timeline of the Premier League vs. Manchester City winnipegfreepress.com
- Man City surprised after Premier League confirm findings of serious financial breaches channelnewsasia.com
