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Thursday, 28 March 2024

Manchester City CEO says allegations untrue and "about politics"

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Manchester City CEO says allegations untrue and 'about politics'
Manchester City CEO says allegations untrue and "about politics"

Mancester City CEO says allegations against the club are "simply not true"

SHOWS: MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UK (FEBRUARY 19, 2020) (MAN CITY TV - ACCESS ALL) 1.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) FERRAN SORIANO, MANCHESTER CITY FOOTBALL GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, SAYING: "The most important thing I have to say today is that the allegations are not true.

They are simply not true." 2.

WHITE FLASH 3.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) FERRAN SORIANO, MANCHESTER CITY FOOTBALL GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, SAYING: "Of course a lot of people come now and say, well what were you expecting?

This is the way it works.

You should have expected a negative outcome the way the system is designed.

But we didn't believe that.

We worked very hard.

We provided the evidence but in the end this FFP Investigatory Chamber relied more on out of context stolen emails than all the other evidence that we provided of what actually happened, and I think it is normal that we feel like we feel.

Ultimately based on our experience and our perception this seems to be less about justice and more about politics." 4.

WHITE FLASH 5.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) FERRAN SORIANO, MANCHESTER CITY FOOTBALL GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, SAYING: "We did cooperate with this process.

We delivered a long list of documents and support that we believe is irrefutable evidence that the claims are not true and it was hard because we did this in the context of information being leaked to the media, in the context of feeling that every step of the way, every engagement we had, we felt that we were considered guilty before anything was even discussed, but at the end, this is an internal process that has been initiated and then prosecuted and then judged by this FFP chamber at UEFA." STORY: Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano said on Wednesday (February 19) the allegations made against his club, which have led to a two year ban from European football by UEFA, are untrue and politically motivated.

UEFA ruled on Friday that City had committed "serious breaches" of their Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations and failed to cooperate with their investigation, handing them a two year ban and a 30 million euro ($32.40 million) fine.

City, who have denied wrongdoing, said they intend to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The Adjudicatory Chamber of UEFA's Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) said City had broken the rules by "overstating its sponsorship revenue in its accounts and in the break-even information submitted to UEFA between 2012 and 2016" and added that the club "failed to cooperate in the investigation".

The Abu Dhabi United Group, the investment vehicle owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is the majority owner of the City Football Group, with a stake of around 77%.

Soriano denied that City had incorrectly reported their sponsorship deals.

($1 = 0.9258 euros) (Production: Andy Ragg)

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