City were hit with a two-year suspension from European competition after being found guilty of FFP rule breaches
Wednesday 19 February 2020 16:17, UK
Read the full Q&A of Manchester City's first extended response to their European ban as chief executive Ferran Soriano insists the allegations are "false".
Speaking to Manchester City's in-house media, Soriano also touched upon the process, Pep Guardiola's focus and the time frame for an appeal...
Thanks for talking to us Ferran, it's Wednesday, five days after the big news. Why are we here and why are you talking now?
Soriano: "I think the club has to say something about this. It has to say it for ourselves, for our stakeholders, for the fans, and for the whole Manchester City family around the world. However, we have to be careful. We have to be respectful as we have been of this process and the process continues. I wish I could say more, I wish I could have been speaking five minutes after this was announced but I did have to take legal advice of what can and cannot be shared but I do hope that I will be able to share enough to understand where we are and where we are going."
City have been found guilty in the FFP Chamber of financial wrongdoing and non-co-operation. How do you answer those two charges?
Soriano: "Well the most important thing I have to say today is that the allegations are not true. They are simply not true."
And in terms of the owner putting his own money into the football club via sponsorships?
Soriano: "The owner has not put money in this club that has not been properly declared. We are a sustainable football club, we are profitable, we don't have debt, our accounts have been scrutinised many times, by auditors, by regulators, by investors and this is perfectly clear."
And in terms of the non-co-operation what did we not co-operate with?
Soriano: "We did co-operate with this process. We delivered a long list of documents and support that we believe is irrefutable evidence that the claims are not true. It was hard because we did this in the context of information being leaked to the media, and feeling that every step and engagement of the way, that we were considered guilty before anything was even discussed. But in the end, this is an internal process that has been initiated and then prosecuted and then judged by this FFP chamber at UEFA.
So the club was very aggressive in our statement when we posted it on Friday. It was a more combative tone probably than we have taken before. We called it a prejudiced process. Why was that?
Soriano: "Well, this was our experience, this is the way we felt all the way through this process. 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 this FFP Investigatory Chamber relied more on out-of-context stolen emails than all the other evidence 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."
So now we go to CAS, Ferran. The club has been there once already. We're now going there again. What is the difference?
Soriano: "This is how the system works. We went to CAS mid-process because it was clear to us that we were not having a fair process and we were concerned. We were specifically concerned about the leaks, the constant leak of information. CAS said there was merit in our complaint, they said that the leaks were 'worrisome' and they said they would judge it when process has finished. The process has finished now, we are going to CAS again."
This seems to be going on and on. What is the time scale here? What are we looking at?
Soriano: "We are looking for an early resolution obviously through a thorough process and a fair process so my best hope is that this will be finished before the beginning of the summer and until then for us, it is business as usual."
Is it fair to say this is probably among the most frustrating and negative experiences that the club has gone through?
Soriano: "The experience with this FFP IC has been negative for us, more than what I would have imagined. But this is not UEFA. We are not talking about the whole of UEFA which is an association of associations. I personally know many people that work at UEFA, very hard for the benefit of UEFA, but also for the benefit of the clubs of UEFA like ours, but also for the benefit of football. If the negative experience that we had and the way this process went is negative, it is negative also for them. UEFA is much bigger than this FFP Chamber."
What are you looking for now? What next?
Soriano: "All we are looking for is a proper adjudication in an independent and impartial body that is going to take the time to look at all the evidence and look at it without preconception.
"I am also looking for the end of this process maybe to put a pen under this undertone that we are hearing all the time that anything that we do, any result that we get is based only on money and not on talent and effort. The hundreds of people that work at this club know this is not true that it is about effort and talent so maybe in the end, this is an opportunity."
You have spoken to Pep, how is he?
Soriano: "Obviously, he has been kept informed about this process but this is not something for him to respond to. He is focused on the football, he is focusing on the game, the game at hand, the game today, tomorrow and the next weeks. As well as the players. They are calm, they are focused and this matter is more a business matter, a legal matter than a football matter."
This has been tough on you, on everyone in the organisation too. But it has also been tough on the fans. Do you have a final message for them?
Soriano: "The fans can be sure of two things. The first one is that the allegations are false. And the second is that we will do everything that can be done to prove so. We know the fans are supporting us. We can feel it. MCFC fans have gone through challenges over the decades. This is just another challenge. We will stick together, we will go through it and we will not let the fans down."
UEFA's Club Financial Control Body is made up of European lawyers, judges and politicians. Although the members of its investigatory and adjudicatory chamber are appointed by the UEFA executive committee, it is considered to be independent of UEFA.
UEFA have decided not to respond to Soriano's statement.
