Pep Guardiola: We will be innocent, ever since Abu Dhabi took over the club it has been like that

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke on Friday about a possible sanction against his club for alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.

He did so at the press conference prior to the Premier League match against Aston Villa.

“I am fully convinced that we will be innocent,” Guardiola responded when asked.

“Since Abu Dhabi took over the club, it has been like that since day one.”

Visibly angry

Guardiola did not hold back in criticizing how the accusations have been covered by the media.

“My first thought is that we’ve already been condemned,” Guardiola ranted.

“We are lucky to live in a country where everyone is innocent until proven guilty.

“It seems like we have already been sentenced.

“What is going to happen, I don’t know, we have good lawyers and I know we are going to defend our position.”

On his future

Despite the speculation about what sanctions could mean for Guardiola‘s future, he insisted he would stay with the club.

“Sometimes I have doubts, seven years already is a long time in any country. Now I don’t want to move,” he insisted.

“Not because people say they lied to you Pep, they didn’t lie to me. Look what happened with UEFA.

“I said to them: what happened? Pep, we did nothing wrong, we proved it, it is the same case.

“Why should I [not] trust my people? Why should I trust the CEOs or the owners of the 19 clubs, the nine clubs like it was with Uefa?

“No, I trust my people.

“Between them and my people, I trust my people. Not one second for the other ones.

“Just in case we are not innocent we will accept what the judge in the Premier League decides, but what happens if in the same situation that Uefa happened we are innocent, what happens to restore or pay back our damage?”

Critical of other teams

Guardiola directly accused other clubs of seeking to benefit from the scenario.

“Nine teams – Burnley, Wolves, Leicester, Newcastle, Spurs, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea – [wrote a letter wanting us] out of the Champions League, that they wanted that position,” Guardiola recalled.