Guardiola backing Man City after guilty verdicts

Former Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has expressed his unwavering support for the club and its leadership following a guilty verdict from an independent commission. The commission found Manchester City guilty of breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules, alleging that the club arranged "sham contracts" with commercial partners to disguise secret funding of over £830 million.

The league confirmed that City was found guilty of all charges related to financial rule breaches between 2009-10 and 2017-18, as well as most charges related to failure to cooperate with the investigation. City has until October 2 to appeal the decision. Guardiola, who managed City from 2016 to 2024, wrote in a social media post that he will "always" be behind the club, its owners, and the players.

He emphasized that the team will get through this together. Micah Richards, a former City defender, expressed his devastation upon reading the guilty verdict, stating that he felt "absolutely devastated" and saddened by the club's situation. City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and chief executive Ferran Soriano have both responded to the verdict, with Soriano claiming that "irrefutable evidence" was ignored by the commission.

The club's owners, the Abu Dhabi United Group, described the verdict as both "disappointing" and "surprising." Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher criticized City's management, accusing them of "gaslighting" and suggesting that the titles should be taken off the club's record.