Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak says he has “strong views” on Premier League charges against the club, adding that City is “very well-run”.
The recent treble winners had their case referred to an independent commission by the Premier League in February after being charged with over 100 breaches of financial rules spanning from 2009/10 to 2017/18.
They allegedly didn’t provide accurate financial information and allegedly, Man City did not fully disclose the financial remunerations that were made to one of their managers over a four-year period. The suggestion is that there was a secret contract so one of the managers was getting paid much more than officially stated.
The Premier League also allege Man City didn’t comply with UEFA’s financial fair play rules over a five-year period. They also allege that Man City have not fully co-operated with the Premier League’s investigation.
The club have unequivocally denied the allegations, with manager Pep Guardiola recently calling for a quick resolution “for the benefit of everyone”.
Following victories in the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the 2022/23 season, chairman Al Mubarak spoke to the club’s official media channels. While he could not fully discuss the charges as an ongoing legal matter – although says he will air his “blunt views” once the process is complete – he did go some way to defend Man City from perceived misconceptions.
“Obviously I can’t talk about them unfortunately for legal reasons,” Al Mubarak said, as part of his annual address.
“And what I would typically always do is comment after, so I think we’re going to go through, we’re going through the legal process. These are proceedings that take whatever time they take and when we’re done, we’ll have a conversation.
“I’ll give you my very blunt views, I promise you that. I have very strong views on that, but I am going to be unfortunately very restrained.
“It’s very frustrating because it takes so much from the great work that’s happening at this club and it’s happening not just on the football pitch. The football pitch – what these players have achieved this year, the treble, is incredible.
“I hope people focus and judge them for their football, what they’re achieving on the pitch and what they’re achieving in every competition they’re in.
“The club as a whole is well run, is very well run. Today, the value of this group is over six billion dollars. We’ve created so much value – we’ve brought in world class investors. Why? Because we have a commercial machine here that is one of the best in the world.
“We can go on for half an hour right now with me just giving you data in terms of net spend over the last season, net spend over the last three years, over the last five years, over the last ten years – look at every single one of them and just look at these as the facts and compare us to our competition and then people will throw at us ‘the biggest spenders’, ‘you have the biggest squad’.
“I wish people can just pause and ask the question and get the facts and then comment.
“Our executives are being targeted by the best teams in the world – always. By the way – it’s a credit to us. I respect that. People appreciate that we are producing, not just the best talent on the pitch, not just the best talent in the academy, not just the best talent in the group, but we’re producing some of the best executives in the world, some of the best scouts in the world, some of the best sporting staff in the world.
“And that’s a testament to the great work that this group is doing. We’re the number one football brand in the world. These are the facts. The club generates a tremendous revenue.”