Maresca backs Man City and predicts appeal victory

Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca said Friday that he trusts the club’s leadership and believes it will win its appeal against an independent commission’s findings of financial-rule breaches. He also rejected suggestions that the club’s past titles were tainted, while acknowledging he had not read the commission’s findings himself. Speaking at a news conference ahead of City’s scheduled Premier League match at Liverpool on Sunday, Maresca said he had complete confidence in the club’s owner, chief executive, sporting director and wider organisation. He said he preferred to discuss the case further after the appeal and described the football side as the only matter he and the players could control. The commission found Manchester City guilty of breaches of Premier League financial rules and of failing to cooperate with the league’s investigation. The club has appealed, saying the ruling contains material errors and is unsafe, and maintains its innocence. The appeal remains ongoing, with no decision date supplied in the reports.