United States manager, Mauricio Pochettino, has described Manchester City’s period of dominance as “a period of deception” following reports that the club was found guilty of breaching Premier League financial regulations.
City are reportedly guilty of the majority of the 115 charges brought against them, although the Premier League has yet to officially announce the outcome of the independent commission’s proceedings.
The club has consistently denied the allegations, with chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak recently reiterating his confidence that Manchester City would prove their innocence.
City have enjoyed significant success since their Abu Dhabi-based ownership took over in 2008, winning multiple Premier League titles and the Champions League among other major honours.
Pochettino, who spent seven years managing in the Premier League with Southampton, Tottenham and Chelsea, said any punishment imposed on City would not reverse the impact the case had already had on the competition.
“Whatever punishment, it’s impossible to turn back time,” Pochettino told reporters.
“It’s done a lot of damage. Many clubs followed the rules and some didn’t. It is a huge sadness. We get into a situation where what got celebrated wasn’t that real, what seemed good maybe wasn’t so good, what didn’t look good maybe was good but couldn’t be good because of what happened.
“We went through something where sporting fairness didn’t exist. So, how do you repair everything that was damaged because of that? If it’s true that all of the 114 rules were broken, we’ve lived through a period of deception.”
The charges against City cover the period between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, while the club is also accused of failing to cooperate with the Premier League’s investigation from December 2018 to February 2023.
City are expected to appeal any punishment eventually handed down.
Possible sanctions reportedly include a points deduction, expulsion from the Premier League or a substantial fine.
There have also been calls for the club to be stripped of Premier League titles won during the period covered by the allegations.
Pochettino recently argued that Chelsea should lose the 2016-17 Premier League title following the club’s historical rule breaches, saying the trophy should instead go to his former Tottenham side, who finished second that season.
However, he admitted that determining an appropriate punishment for City would be difficult.
“What are they going to do? An economic punishment? Docking points? It’s really hard,” he said.
“If I remember being at Southampton, then Tottenham – I remember building the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and not having the economic possibility of a transfer for 18 months.
“Tottenham was fighting for titles with those above us and every year in the top four, getting to the semi-finals of the Champions League without being able to do a transfer for 18 months, all because we needed to get used to the Premier League financial controls?
“They were so strict with us but also so lenient with others. Because of that, that’s why I say it’s all very strange.”
