Pep Guardiola shuts down claim from La Liga president over Man City 'financial deception'

Guardiola was left irked during a press conference on Friday ahead of City’s FA Cup clash against Plymouth when quizzed about Tebas’ remarks.

The City manager, asked for his views on Tebas’ comments, refused to answer a question from a journalist and simply shouted: ‘Next!’

City were charged by the Premier League for breaking over 100 financial rules in February 2023 but the English champions have strongly denied any wrongdoing – and following a hearing last year – a decision is soon expected from an independent commission, although appeals may follow.

Guardiola was later pushed on why City had become a legal target for other clubs, leagues and organisations as he added: ‘I don’t know. It happened in the past with UEFA, and now in a few weeks it happens in the Premier League, the sentence, right? We’ll wait, and after we’ll talk.’

Speaking at the Financial Times’ Business of Football summit on Thursday, Tebas revealed that he reported City to the European Commission in 2023 for allegedly manipulating their balance sheets.

‘City have a lot of companies in their group which lie outside the City Football Group structure, extra companies where they put their expenses,’ Tebas said.

‘These other companies lose the money but not the club itself. We have reported them to the European Union (sic). We have the facts and figures.

‘We asked for City to be checked. It’s very important that all clubs are subject to the same transparency rules and governance on both the sporting and financial side.

‘The City case is one where we believe they have put the losses on the companies that are not officially part of City Football Group.

‘Do you remember the case in the United States? The Enron case. What they did, they got their losses and they put them into different companies. Well, it’s a similar case.’

The ‘Enron case’ was an accounting scandal sparked by American energy company Enron Corporation, where executives were found to have reaped millions by using partnerships to generate false profits and hide debt.

‘They (City) have a scouting company, a marketing company,’ Tebas added at the Financial Times’ Business of Football summit.

‘That’s where they have very high expenses. They invoice City for less money. City have costs that are less than if they didn’t have this circle of companies around.’

Quizzed over the status of the complaint, Tebas said: ‘I think it is in the investigation phase. We haven’t had a reply, so it must be in the investigation phase.’

It is understood City strongly refute the allegations over the club’s accounts, which are a matter of public record, as proof of no wrongdoing.