FERRAN SORIANO says Manchester City will clear their name by early summer as they fight a two-year European ban.
City beat struggling West Ham hours after it emerged they could get the suspension ‘frozen’ while their appeal is heard. That would give them a chance to play in next season’s Champions League.
Ferran Soriano is ready to go into battle with Uefa to clear Man City of any wrongdoingCredit: EPA
Furious City fans chanted “f*** Uefa” as goals from Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne KO’d the Hammers.
And Etihad chief executive Soriano has come out fighting and says the allegations of financial wrongdoing are ‘simply not true’.
Soriano added: “We are looking for an early resolution through a thorough process and a fair process.
“So my best hope is that this will be finished before the beginning of the summer and until then for us, it is business as usual.
“The most important thing I have to say today is that the allegations are not true. They are simply not true.
“The owner has not put money in this club that has not been properly declared. We are a sustainable football club, we are profitable, we don’t have debt.
“Our accounts have been scrutinized many times — by auditors, by regulators, by investors and this is perfectly clear.
“The fans can be sure of two things. The first one is that the allegations are false.
“And the second is that we will do everything that can be done to prove so.”
Boss Pep Guardiola says the prospect of a Champions League ban is not affecting his players.
He said: “The first moment had an impact but after a few hours we cannot control this.
“We support the club 100 per cent and what we have to do is play our games.
“We’re professionals and we want to play games.
“We have had a break and it was good for us.
Ultimately based on our experience and our perception this seems to be less about justice and more about politics
Manchester City chief Ferran Soriano
“And now it is back to business, playing games. It is not a problem.”
Soriano said he is looking forward to City being given a fair hearing as they go before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for a second time.
The defending Premier League champs have until early next week to lodge their appeal.
And they could ask for “provisional measures”, which in effect would suspend the ban until a full hearing into the case is heard.
If City do not ask for provisional measures then they risk having the suspension kick in during the appeal process, after the draw for next season’s Champions League has taken place.
But Spaniard Soriano said: “I am looking for the end of this process.
“To put a pen under this undertone that we are hearing all the time — that any result we get is based only on money and not on talent and effort.
“Maybe in the end, this is an opportunity.
“We went to CAS mid-process because it was clear to us that we were not having a fair process and we were concerned.
“We were specifically concerned about the leaks, the constant leak of information.
“CAS said there was merit in our complaint, they said that the leaks were ‘worrisome’.
“They said they would judge it when the process has finished. The process has finished now, we are going to CAS again.
“All we are looking for is a proper adjudication in an independent and impartial body that is going to take the time to look at all the evidence and look at it without preconception.”
Uefa ruled last Friday that City had committed “serious breaches” of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules and failed to cooperate with its investigation.
They slapped them with a two-year ban and a £25million fine.
But Soriano insisted: “We did cooperate with this process.
“We delivered a long list of documents and support we believe is irrefutable evidence that the claims are not true.
“We felt that we were considered guilty before anything was even discussed.
“Ultimately, based on our experience and our perception, this seems to be less about justice and more about politics.”
Pep Guardiola tells Manchester City squad ‘I will be here next season even in League Two’
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
