Guardiola backs Manchester City after financial ruling

Pep Guardiola has reaffirmed his support for Manchester City after an independent commission found the club responsible for multiple breaches of Premier League financial rules. City has rejected the findings and said it will appeal; the appeal outcome and any sanctions remain unresolved. In a social media post on Wednesday, September 30, Guardiola said he remained behind the club, its owners and chairman, staff, players and supporters. He added that they would get through the situation together. The statement was his first public response to the commission’s decision, according to reports. The commission’s findings concern the period from 2009 to 2018, before Guardiola joined City in 2016 and continuing through part of his tenure. It found that the club used sham commercial arrangements and misstated financial information. Reports differ on some details of the decision, including whether the period is described as eight or nine seasons and the precise value attributed to the alleged financial misstatements, so no single total can be established from the available accounts.