Joe Cole Slammed For His Take on Man City Guilty Charges Debate

· GiveMeSport

Manchester City have maintained their innocence throughout the entire process.

Former Chelsea and Liverpool star Joe Cole has been criticised for his take on the ongoing debate over Manchester City’s guilty verdict.

After months of uncertainty, the Premier League finally announced last month that City have been found guilty on all 115 charges relating to financial breaches.

Despite the guilty verdict, City have continued to maintain their innocence, with their position unchanged since the charges were first revealed.

Now, the whole football world will be following every movement on the case as City, who have lodged an appeal, wait for any potential punishments.

Speaking at the Emirates ahead of Arsenal’s Premier League clash against Leeds United , former Chelsea and England midfielder Cole was involved in a debate with Martin Keown over what should happen to City.

After Keown stated that City should be stripped of their trophies, Cole disagreed, as he said:

> “I think you’re wrong. Taking drugs, like Lance Armstrong, performance-enhancing drugs, that’s abhorrent. Match-fixing, like Juventus, that’s cheating.

> “This is something where they have bought the club, and these rules have come in; it’s not on the same level. There are levels of cheating; you go from doping to trying to influence the referee.”

> “They need to be punished, but what about Guardiola, Kevin De Bruyne — all of them great players. They changed football.”

When asked whether City’s recent successes are now tainted, Cole responded: “For me, no.”

At this point, Keown wasn't having it as he said City’s success has been accelerated unfairly. Cole then said: “Are we going to go another 50 years, and clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea winning? There will never be another story.

> “I think it’s not right to class it in the same way as cheating through match-fixing and doping. I think the rules and regulations need to be changed to allow the Premier League to grow.”

> “So, other clubs can grow and compete and live their dreams.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Cole was heavily criticised on social media for his 'shambolic' take. One fan said: “Was absolute car crash TV listening to him waffle on and on.”

Another tweeted: “There are levels of cheating, alright Joe, no one will be taking you seriously being a pundit.”

A third fan added: “Take the mic off him...... this is horrendous lmao.”

Someone else wrote: “Cheating is cheating.”

A fifth commented: “I like Joe Cole… but I think he has this completely wrong.”

Another fan said: “Imagine making Martin Keown sound like the rational and balanced pundit.”

A twist has emerged in the biggest scandal in British sporting history.

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