Manchester City critic and Spanish league boss Javier Tebas says the club must face “justice” for the sake of English and European football.
City were last month found guilty of more than 100 counts of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules by hiding over £900m in owner funding that allowed them to spend freely on some of the world’s best players.
The club are appealing the finding but face severe sanctions that could include huge fines, a points deduction that enforces relegation and a transfer ban, while their Abu Dhabi-based owner, Sheikh Mansour, could be forced to sell up.
Tebas, who has long criticised what he termed the “financial doping” of City and Qatar-owned European champions Paris Saint-Germain, addressed the saga at the Sportel conference in Monaco.
“I’m interested in understanding how this story will end. It is important for both the Premier League and the European football ecosystem,” he said, in comments reported by SportsPro.
“There are people who have had to leave [European governing body] Uefa because of Manchester City, so I think we need justice for the Premier League, for Europe and Uefa.”
Man City CEO called me about my comments, says Tebas
Tebas called out City and PSG during a now-notorious appearance at another conference in Manchester almost a decade ago, when he accused the French club of “peeing in the pool” following their £200m signing of Neymar from Barcelona.
“Of course, I am interested in Manchester City because in 2017 we participated in Soccerex in Manchester and the CEO [Ferran Soriano] called me because he was mad at me because I was telling people about all… they were doing,” he added.
City have denied the Premier League’s charges, which cover the period from 2009 to 2018, during which they won their first three titles and laid the foundations for five more. Trophies won by the club during the spell under scrutiny could be stripped if the guilty verdicts are upheld.