Pep Guardiola had joked about the comparison between his gesture, six fingers – like so many English championship titles – brandished in the direction of the supporters, and the one that José Mourinho had made a few years earlier at Stamford Bridge. “We are a bit similar with José, but he has three championship titles, and I have six”Guardiola smiled at a press conference, opening the door to a response which did not take long.
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The Special One, who never keeps his tongue in his pocket, responded curtly to the Spaniard. “Guardiola said something about me, that he had won six trophies and I had three, but I won them fair and square, launched Mourinho this Friday, in comments relayed by the Turkish daily Hurriyet. If I lose, I congratulate my opponent because he was better than me. But I don't want to win by having to handle 150 court cases. »
A lawsuit underway against City
Currently the Mancunians are in court against the Premier League. Concretely, the club faces 115 indictments: 80 financial offenses (period 2009-2018) and 35 additional for an alleged lack of cooperation in the investigation.
According to the Premier League, the Citizens have breached League regulations requiring the provision “in good faith” d’“accurate financial information giving a true and fair view of the club’s financial situation”bought in 2008 by the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) consortium, owned by Sheikh Mansour.
The holding company is suspected of having hidden direct financial investments, by inflating sponsorship revenues from Etihad, the Emirati airline and main partner of the club (shirt sponsor and stadium naming), in order to circumvent the rules.
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Manchester City must also answer for alleged violations of financial fair play by UEFA (period 2013-2018) and the Premier League (2015-2018). The independent commission must also determine whether Roberto Mancini, one of the former coaches, benefited from undeclared salary supplements, a practice which could also have benefited certain players.
