Pep bites back; Mourinho, Klopp slam CAS
LONDON: Pep Guardiola said on Tuesday Manchester City deserve an apology after successfully overturning their European ban but rival managers Jose Mourinho and Juergen Klopp criticised the ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
CAS on Monday lifted a two-year ban imposed earlier this year on the Premier League club by European football’s governing body Uefa over alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules between 2012 and 2016.
Guardiola feels the club proved their innocence after years of accusations related to their financial strength and says it is time for others to accept their place among the elite is merited.
“I am incredibly happy for the decision. It shows all the people said about the club wasn’t true,” the City boss told a press conference.
“We should be being apologised to. If we did something wrong we would accept, absolutely, the decisions from Uefa and CAS.”
The City boss has hit out at rival clubs for what he believes was a “whispering” campaign to discredit them.
“We don’t expect Liverpool,
Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea or Wolves, or all the clubs, to defend us but we have the right to defend ourselves when we believe what we have done is correct, and three independent judges said this,” he said.
Tottenham manager Mourinho said the court’s decision was a “disaster” and showed FFP, which limits club’s spending in line with their revenue, was now dead, while Liverpool boss Klopp said City’s reprieve was a bad day for football.
An initial fine of €30 million imposed by Uefa was reduced to €10 million by CAS.
Mourinho said if they were guilty, City should be banned — but if they were innocent, they should not have to pay a penny.
“It’s a disgraceful decision, because if Man City is not guilty then to be punished with some millions is a disgrace. If you are not guilty, you are not punished. By the other way if you are guilty you should be banned so it is also a disgraceful decision. In any case the decision is a disaster,” said Mourinho.
“I truly believe FFP is gone,” he added. “New owners [of clubs] will have this feeling the circus opened the door so let’s go and enjoy it.”
Klopp said: “I don’t wish anything bad on anyone but I don’t think it was a good day for football. Financial Fair Play is a good idea and it was there to protect teams and the competition, and clubs have to make sure the money they want to spend is from the right sources.”