Man City reaction: PM Burnham insists he has not downplayed guilty verdict

· Sky-PL

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has insisted he has not downplayed the seriousness of the verdict against Manchester City, after Downing Street was forced to clarify his position last week.

PM Burnham insists he has not downplayed Man City's financial verdict

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has insisted he has not downplayed the seriousness of the verdict against Manchester City, after Downing Street was forced to clarify his position last week.

Burnham's latest comments come after he was criticised last week for saying he would be "really concerned" if Man City's owners were to sell the Premier League club.

The former mayor of Greater Manchester credited City's owners with being “a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester” in those comments.

Downing Street subsequently stressed that the initial judgment against City was serious, that "there can't be any suggestion that anyone is above the rules" and that the independent process must be allowed to "run its course".

Burnham has now reiterated that position, saying the findings against City "need to be considered with great care and seriousness".

> "I haven't downplayed the seriousness of the findings," Burnham said.

> "They are findings that need to be considered with great care and seriousness, and then the process that considers them needs to be fully independent, and I said that last week.

> "I'll repeat it again today, and I think it's incumbent on everybody now to let the process run its course."

City have appealed against the verdict of an independent commission which found them guilty of all charges relating to serious breaches of Premier League financial rules.

City insist they are "innocent" and have described the judgment as "opinion", claiming it "contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe".

The independent commission found that between 2009/10 and 2017/18, City arranged "sham" contracts with a number of commercial partners as part of a "disguised funding scheme" to artificially inflate the club's revenues by £830m.

Burnham was also asked whether he regretted saying he would be concerned if City's owners decided to sell.

> "I was asked a question about wider investment," he said.

> "I think it's important to separate the football issues from wider investment. The football issues have to be looked at fully, and that is without question.

> "And obviously, the process then be allowed to run its course without further wider comment being made."

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Jaissle: Not my job to judge Man City

Newcastle boss Matthias Jaissle on Man City charges:

> “As a manager of another club I’m not able to judge. It’s not my job to do that, it’s not in my job description.

> "The authorities are taking care of it, and there is a clear process now.

> "For us, speaking on behalf of the whole club, it’s the right approach to focus on what we can influence and it comes down to my job and what I can influence against Coventry on Monday."

Could it directly affect Newcastle while waiting for the appeal and sanctions?

> “I try to make a point already in the first answer. On behalf of the club we should just focus on what can influence, to improve, strive forward, to make our brave journey successful. We need to focus on what we can do better.”

Farke reacts to Man City news

Leeds boss Daniel Farke:

> "Not my topic. My topic is football. There are more qualified people to speak on this.

> "It's not up to me. I was not involved in the title race in these years. Man City won many titles. In that time, I only played Man City once with Norwich, and we won that by the way, so I can't complain.

> "It makes no sense if, right now, everyone in the world wants to have an opinion, they don't know the detail. There are more qualified people to speak.

> "I have other things to worry about with Leeds United."

Rose reacts to Man City news

Bournemouth boss Marco Rose:

> "I played many times against Manchester City in the Champions League with my former clubs and for me it was always the best thing to challenge with the best players and the best clubs in the world.

> "That's what I felt and I'm not this kind of guy who blames someone with not enough information. So of course I hear everything, I read everything, but I don't have all the information and I trust in the guys who are involved in this kind of things and situations

> "And then we're going to see what happens. But I'm a football coach, I'm not a politician, so I love to be a football coach and it should stay like this."

Lampard reacts to Man City news

Coventry boss Frank Lampard:

> "We've all seen the news. Obviously big news. Man City are appealing the situation, so what can you say when an appeal is going on?

> "I'm not inside the story, I'm outside it completely. I played for Man City a long time ago now for one year but we'll wait and see what the result of the appeal is."

What impact could it have on the remainder of the season?

> "I don't know.

> "I'm outside the loop. I have this job and my problems I have to work on."

Lineker: Man City fans will suffer the most after guilty charges

Gary Lineker gives his thoughts on Manchester City after an independent commission found them guilty of breaking Premier League financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18.

Man City deny all charges and have lodged an appeal.

Walker: Man City charges don't look great, but glory years can't be taken away from us

Manchester City's glory years cannot be taken away from the players, according to former captain Kyle Walker.

City have appealed against last week's seismic judgment of an independent commission that they broke Premier League financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18.

Walker spent eight years at City from 2017 to 2025, winning the Champions League as well as 12 major domestic honours.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Burnley right-back Walker said: "Obviously it doesn't look great. I know it's in an appeal stage so, for me to start commenting on the legal action and everything like that, probably it's not going to do myself justice or anyone involved in it.

> "But, at a personal level, I can say the lads, we spent many and many a great year celebrating many trophies and everything like that and that's something that, whatever happens, they can't take away from us because we've experienced them nights.

> "So, whatever will be, will be, and it's just down to the appeal now and what goes from there."

The independent commission concluded more than £830m of owner funding was used to inflate revenues and enable the club to comply with Premier League and UEFA financial rules through a series of "sham" arrangements over a nine-year period.

A City statement released last Friday read: "The club's firm position is that, on multiple grounds, the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe.

> "The club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions relating to this case."

Walker admitted it is not an easy subject for former City players to discuss, adding: "It's something that we probably don't want to talk about because we want to be looked upon as winning them trophies, winning them the right way.

> "It's very difficult because we've worked very hard for them, and not just us, I look at the fans as well.

> "I look at the fans that have travelled up and down the country, travelled abroad to Istanbul when we won the treble and stuff like that, and they deserve that night as well."

Explained: Could UEFA take action against Man City after PL disciplinary process?

UEFA monitoring Man City case as it considers potential action

Sky Sports News' Chief Correspondent Kaveh Solhekol:

UEFA are monitoring developments and will wait until the end of the Premier League’s disciplinary process before deciding whether to take any potential action against Manchester City.

City have been found guilty by an independent commission of breaking the Premier League’s financial rules between 2009 and 2018 including five charges of failing to comply with UEFA’s financial fair play rules.

UEFA financial rules at the time meant clubs were effectively limited to spending what they earned within set break-even requirements.

The commission found that City’s owners put in £830m of their own money and disguised it as sponsorship income for nine seasons.

City are appealing the decision and maintain they have a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence which will clear their name.

In 2014 City entered into a settlement agreement with UEFA which included a £49 million (£32m of which was suspended) fine after they were charged with breaking financial fair play rules.

In 2020 City were found guilty of breaking UEFA’s financial fair play rules, fined €30m and banned from playing in European competitions for two years.

City appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports and the ban was overturned, with CAS ruling that UEFA had not established that City’s owners had disguised equity funding as sponsorship contributions, while other breaches were time barred.

CAS reduced City’s fine from €30m to €10 million for failing to co-operate with the UEFA investigation and stated that most of the alleged breaches “were either not established or time barred”.

UEFA has a statute of limitations of five years for financial rule breaches whereas the Premier League does not have a statute of limitations.

UEFA’s case was triggered by hacked City emails which were published by German magazine Der Spiegel in 2018.

City said the internal documents were “out-of-context materials purportedly hacked or stolen” as part of an “organised and clear attempt to damage the club’s reputation”.

The Premier League investigation had access to documents and evidence which were not available to UEFA when they were building their case against City.

City and UEFA have been contacted for comment.

Carra calls for swift Man City sanctions that last for 'years and years'

Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher has urged any potential sanctions against Manchester City to be "done this season".

Man City have lodged their appeal against an independent commission, which found them guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of Premier League financial rules.

The independent commission concluded more than £830m of owner funding was used to inflate revenues and enable the club to comply with Premier League and UEFA financial rules through a series of "sham" arrangements.

City are adamant they have done nothing wrong, insisting they are innocent and that "a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists" to support their position.

Carragher believes that any possible punishments against Man City "should go on for years and years".

Speaking to Sky Sports News at the Legends of Football Awards, he said: "Now that we know that they're guilty, yes, there's an appeal, but now that they've got a big guilty verdict initially, now I don't think anybody wants to wait.

> "It has to be done this season, because Man City need to be affected for next season.

> "I know the word at the moment is sham; it'll almost make the Premier League of this season, the title to be won would be a sham, if Man City went on to win that league with what we know has gone on.

> "So it has to be done this season, and I think the punishment, whatever it should be, I don't think it can be a one-off punishment for one season, because this has gone on for years and years, so I think the punishment should go on for years and years."

Man City's first game since the guilty verdict was announced will be a trip to Liverpool on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.

Carragher says "there will be an extra spice" to the game at Anfield, which "should be an absolute cracker".

He added: "I think it’ll be really difficult for City this season now, in terms of going on to achieve anything.

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