Enzo Maresca denies Manchester City titles are tainted after guilty verdict
Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca says the club's titles are not tainted after guilty findings over Premier League financial rule breaches, and he trusts City to win their appeal.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca has insisted the club's Premier League titles are not tainted after an independent commission found the club guilty of breaches of the Premier League's financial rules.
Speaking at his first press conference since the findings were made public, Maresca repeatedly backed the club's hierarchy and said he trusted City to win their appeal. The club has lodged an appeal against the verdict.
The findings cover more than 100 charges and a period of almost a decade. Reports say City used more than 800 million pounds of owner funding to inflate revenues through sham agreements, and that sham contracts gave the club a huge advantage over its Premier League rivals. Possible sanctions include a points deduction, relegation or expulsion.
When asked whether he understood the anger and outrage, Maresca said: 'I understand the reason why most of you are here, but the only thing I can say is that it is something that I already said, that there is a process ongoing, and in this moment I completely trust the club.' He added: 'I trust the club because I trust the people, and this is also the reason why I joined the club.'
He also said there was no other club in the world where he would like to be, and that he was happy and proud to be at City. He would not be drawn on whether he had read the commission's report, saying he preferred to focus on football.
Maresca was asked whether the achievements from his earlier spell at City, when he worked under Pep Guardiola during the treble season, now looked different. He said 'Absolutely not' and denied they felt tainted. He said he knew the effort put in by the players, the club and the manager at that time to achieve those targets, and that he had no doubt about them. He also said he would still have returned as manager had he known the commission would deliver guilty verdicts.
Attention now turns to Sunday's match away at Liverpool. Maresca said the environment at Anfield is always difficult and would probably be even worse because of the situation, but that his duty was to prepare the team and try to win. City are unbeaten in the Premier League this season and sit top of the league.
The affair is expected to overshadow City's season until it is resolved. Football is waiting to see what the appeal brings and what sanctions, if any, come City's way. The next major development is likely to be the appeal process, with the saga expected to run into the new year at least.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reported by all 3 channels | |||
| Manchester City were reported to have been found guilty of breaching financial rules. | |||
| Maresca said he trusts the club amid an ongoing process, citing the people there and his reasons for joining. | Reported by ITV | ||
| Maresca said Manchester City's past achievements and titles did not feel tainted, citing the effort during the treble season. | Reported by ITV | ||
| Reported by a few · 2 channels | |||
| Enzo Maresca held the first Manchester City news conference since the independent commission's findings were made public, ahead of the club's match against Liverpool, with most questions concerning the findings. | Not reported by BBC One | Reported by Sky News | |
| Only on one channel | |||
| Maresca said he would still have returned to manage Manchester City in place of Guardiola even if he had known the commission would find the club guilty. | Not reported by ITV | Not reported by Sky News | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky News treated the press conference as a live, confrontational moment. It pressed Maresca on whether calling the controversy noise was dismissive of real anger, and asked whether he would match Pep Guardiola's pledge to stay if the club were relegated. It gave less detail than other channels on the scale of the breaches or the appeal timetable.
- “You have referred to the controversy surrounding the city as noise. Is that somewhat dismissive of genuine anger that is felt by many towards the findings of the Commission that have found that the club cheated over many years?”
- “in this moment I completely trust the club”
- “They don't feel tainted to you? Absolutely not.”
ITV1 led on the manager's insistence that the titles are absolutely not tainted and framed the event as the club's first media appearance since the independent commission findings. Its report stressed the scale of the findings, including more than 100 breaches and sham contracts over nine years, and looked ahead to possible sanctions and a hostile Anfield reception.
- “Manchester City's manager has insisted the club's titles are absolutely not tainted despite it being found guilty of breaking more than 100 of Premier League financial rules.”
- “We understand the seriousness of the situation, we understand the noise completely, 100 per cent. It's something serious.”
- “football just waits to see what the appeal brings and also waits for any sanctions that might come City's way”
BBC ONE West gave the most detailed account of the findings and the stakes. Its correspondents noted Maresca would not say whether he had read the commission report, highlighted the 800 million pound owner funding and sham agreements, and set out possible punishments from points deduction to expulsion. It also focused on the likely hostile atmosphere at Liverpool.
- “Maresca wouldn't be drawn on whether or not he'd actually read the damning Premier League Independent Commission report”
- “used more than 800 million pounds of owner funding to inflate revenues via Sham agreements for almost a decade”
- “Yes City faced the threat of a points deduction relegation or even expulsion”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.