Javier Tebas slams Manchester City as La Liga chief demands 'equal rules for all' following 115-charges guilty verdict

Multiple outlets have claimed that Man City face a guilty verdict regarding their long-running battle with the Premier League. The Athletic reported that an independent panel has upheld all but one of the 115 financial charges levelled against the club.

Meanwhile, City issued a statement noting that the legal process "remains ongoing", stopping short of explicitly denying the circulating verdicts. The Premier League has maintained its silence, refusing to comment on what it described as a "private and confidential process."

Taking to X, Tebas released a lengthy statement reflecting on his past criticisms of "so-called financial doping in European football", tracing his stance back to a 2017 Soccerex event in Manchester. He emphasised that robust economic rules are vital for the sport's survival.

"Economic sustainability is not bureaucracy. Financial control is not a whim," Tebas wrote. "And arguing that clubs should compete fundamentally with the resources they are able to generate doesn't mean being against any specific club either. It's about defending a model."

He added: "A model in which sporting success doesn't depend on who has the most powerful financial backing behind them, but on who manages best, generates more resources, builds better teams, and respects the same rules as everyone else. Defending this position has cost me a lot of criticism and not a few headaches. But I still think exactly the same as I did in Manchester in 2017."

Reiterating his commitment to this approach, the La Liga chief stated: "There are principles worth defending, even if they come at a cost. And this one, for me, is one of them."

This is not the first time City have faced severe regulatory action. In 2020, the club successfully appealed a two-year UEFA European ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over Financial Fair Play breaches. Tebas heavily criticised that CAS ruling at the time, calling it a "deeply misguided decision" that was "extraordinarily damaging to the credibility of European football's economic control system."

Connecting past events to the current reports, Tebas continued his online address: "Now, almost nine years after those words at Soccerex, an independent Premier League commission has deemed 114 of the 115 financial breaches charged against Manchester City proven, according to the published reports."

Acknowledging the ongoing nature of the case, he concluded: "There's still a way to go. The sanction remains to be known, and the process isn't over. But what's happened once again shows why economic control, transparency, and equal rules for all are essential to protect the integrity and sustainability of football. We will keep defending those principles. Just like in 2017."

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