The manager of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, has told the president of UEFA, Aleksander Ceferin, to “respect the procedure” in response to his comments over the club’s alleged Financial Fair Play (FFP) violations.
Ceferin said that Uefa “were right” to ban Manchester City from playing in Europe for two years in 2020 during an interview with the Telegraph, an assertion that didn’t go down well with Guardiola.
Recall that the Court of Arbitration for Sport came to the rescue of Manchester City when it overturned UEFA’s sanction against the club after an appeal in 2020. Three seasons later, they won their first UEFA Champions League title.
Aside from UEFA’s allegations against City, the Premier League alleged that the club violated its financial policies, an allegation the Manchester side had refuted.
Note that the Premier League filed charges against City for 115 infractions in February of last year.
Premier League CEO, Richard Masters said in front of UK lawmakers earlier this month that a date for the hearing had been set, but he was not allowed to reveal it.
Reacting to the comments of the UEFA president against Manchester City, Pep Guardiola said on Thursday: “As a lawyer that he is and president of Uefa, he should wait and after do whatever he wants.
“He has to respect it and he has to wait. He has a lot of jobs to do at Uefa. A lawyer should respect the procedure and understand we have a right to defend ourselves.”
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Pep Guardiola and his boys will be in action in the FA Cup fourth round against Tottenham Hotspur on Friday night, January 26. The game will kick-off at Tottenham Hotspur stadium by 9 p.m. on the said date.
