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Pochettino Laments 'Deception' in Man City Verdict
Developing
In Short: The Premier League has not yet officially confirmed the verdict, which was reportedly passed down by an independent commission following a long-running case.
Mauricio Pochettino, the United States men's national team coach, expressed sadness over reports that Manchester City has been found guilty of almost all of the 115 charges of financial breaches, calling it a period of deception.
Pochettino, who was speaking Monday ahead of the U.S. men's team's friendly match against Chile, said, 'If it’s true that the 114 rules were broken, then we lived through a period of deception.
The Premier League has not yet officially confirmed the verdict, which was reportedly passed down by an independent commission following a long-running case.
Pochettino had previously called for Chelsea to be stripped of the 2016-17 Premier League title for a total of 74 breaches of Football Association regulations.
During the period of alleged rule-breaking by City, which spanned from 2009 to 2018, Pochettino was managing Tottenham Hotspur, turning the London club into a title challenger despite operating on a relatively tight budget.
Tottenham reached the Champions League final in 2019, while Chelsea won the Premier League title in 2016-17 by a seven-point margin over Tottenham, which finished third in the 2017-18 season when City was champion.
City's chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, continued to protest the club's innocence even after reports of the verdict surfaced, maintaining that the club had done nothing wrong.
Background
The potential punishments for Manchester City range from fines to the stripping of their Premier League titles, with severe consequences like a points deduction that could lead to relegation also on the table.
Manchester City has always denied wrongdoing, and its chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, continued to protest the club's innocence even after reports of the verdict surfaced.
What's still developing
- Pochettino, who was at Spurs from 2014-19, said that "ultimately a lot of clubs followed the rules and others didn’t." Prodigy.