Pochettino Laments 'Deep Sadness' Over Man City Verdict
U.S. men's national team coach Mauricio Pochettino said he felt "deep sadness" over reports that Manchester City has been found guilty of nearly all of the 115 charges brought against the club for alleged financial rule breaches. Speaking Monday, a day before his team faced Chile in a friendly, Pochettino said the outcome reflected a broader failure of what he called "sporting justice" in English soccer.
The alleged violations by City span 2009 to 2018. During that period, Pochettino managed Tottenham from 2014 to 2019, building the club into a regular Premier League and Champions League contender despite operating with a significantly smaller budget than City and other rivals. The Premier League has not officially confirmed the verdict, which several media outlets report was delivered by an independent commission after a lengthy investigation. Manchester City has consistently denied wrongdoing, and club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak reiterated that position on Saturday, a day after reports of the ruling emerged. futsal online betting
"If it's true that the 114 rules were broken, then we lived through a period of deception," Pochettino said. "Whatever the punishment ends up being … I don't know. It's impossible to go back. I think a lot of damage has been done." Earlier this month, Pochettino had also called for Chelsea to be stripped of their 2016-17 Premier League title over 74 breaches of Football Association regulations tied to agents, intermediaries and third-party investment in players. Chelsea's punishment, reduced on appeal, was a 10 million pound fine and a suspended two-window transfer ban. Chelsea won that title by a seven-point margin over Tottenham, who finished third the following season when City claimed the championship.
Pochettino said "a lot of clubs followed the rules and others didn't," adding that the possible consequences for City - financial penalties, points deductions or otherwise - remain unclear. "It's sad. It's deeply sad," he said. "Because, in the end, we've entered into a situation where what was celebrated wasn't really what we thought it was. What seemed so good maybe wasn't so good. And what didn't seem good maybe actually was good, but it couldn't be seen as good because the other 'good' was achieved by breaking the rules. So, ultimately, we've lived through a period where sporting justice didn't exist." The Premier League has not announced a timeline for confirming the verdict or any sanctions that may follow.
