A riled-up Pep Guardiola repeated a one-word response to questions on Javier Tebas, after the LaLiga chief confirmed the league has reported Man City to the European Commission over an alleged financial scandal.
LaLiga president Javier Tebas made the bombshell claim at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit in London on Thursday.
Tebas accused Man City of a Enron-style financial scandal. Enron was an infamous multi-billion-pound accounting deception which erupted nearly 25 years ago in the United States.
The official, who has led the Spanish football league since 2013, accused City of artificially keeping their costs down by using related companies.
Guardiola was asked about Tebas’ and LaLiga’s complaint ahead of Man City’s FA Cup tie against Plymouth on Saturday.
‘Next,’ Guardiola responded upon hearing Tebas’ name in a question, before repeating ‘Next’ as the question continued.
Pep Guardiola responded with ‘Next’ three times when asked about LaLiga chief Javier Tebas
Tebas revealed on Thursday that LaLiga has reported Man City to the European Commission
When asked whether it was tiring for Man City’s finances to keep being brought up, Guardiola responded with a third ‘Next’.
The Man City boss, however, did offer a response when asked why the club have proved a legal target for clubs and leagues, as well as European football’s governing body UEFA.
‘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,’ Guardiola said.
‘We’ll wait, and after we’ll talk.’
Guardiola’s comment referenced the upcoming verdict in Man City’s historic hearing with the Premier League, which is expected in the coming weeks.
The hearing into the Premier League’s 130 (originally 115) charges against City concluded on December 6. The Premier League have accused its champions of multiple breaches of financial rules and of failing to co-operate with a subsequent investigation.
Tebas confirmed on Thursday that LaLiga had submitted a complaint to the European Commission in 2023 relating to City’s financial mechanisms, claiming they cause a serious distortion in the EU internal market.
A European Commission spokesperson confirmed LaLiga’s submission to Mail Sport.
The European Commission confirmed to Mail Sport that a submission has been received
‘We can confirm receipt of La Liga’s submission,’ the spokesperson said.
‘The Commission may examine information regarding any alleged foreign subsidies distorting the internal market, in any economic sector, including sports.
‘However, the Commission cannot comment on ongoing assessments.’
City declined to comment, though insiders strongly refuted the allegations from Tebas and pointed to their accounts, which are a matter of public record, as proof of no wrongdoing.
Tebas had made his claims at an extraordinary press conference on Thursday.
‘City were already expelled from European competition for two seasons but then they went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport – we call it a “court” but it’s not really a court of justice,’ he said.
‘Manchester City were not condemned. UEFA was clear in the sanctions. In the case of the Premier League’s charges, I don’t know whether Manchester City will be deducted one point or 50 points or get relegated. All I know is the UEFA sanction was just, regardless of what CAS ruled.
‘Related parties need to be kept at arms length. It’s the same in every other sector, so why not football? When City Football Group bought Girona, they sent five players on loan. We checked the valuations. We calculated they were 40 times higher than Manchester City claimed. We used our valuation, and that’s why there was no complaint or sanction.’
Guardiola’s side have proved to be the dominant force in English football in recent years
Tebas has been a repeat critic of Man City, who are led by chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, left, and chief executive Ferran Soriano, right
He continued: ‘What worries me about Manchester City is something else. They have a group of companies outside of City Football Group. They saddle all their expenses to these companies.
‘For example, they have scouting or marketing companies who accrue high expenses. They invoice Manchester City for low amounts. It allows Manchester City to have a structure that circumvents the rules. We have reported Manchester City to the EU.
‘Even though they are an English team, and not part of the EU, they still have commercial activities in Europe. We first made the complaint in July 2023 and there are now regulations in place allowing the EU to look at companies like City Football Group.
‘There are two aspects. The first is checking Manchester City are not using other companies to cheat the system. The second element is a bigger battle to stop football ending up in the hands of State-owned entities without proper policing. Our case against Manchester City relates to two things. We take issue with some of the prices the club have paid. And we question who the club can saddle losses on other related companies that are not directly part of City Football Group.
‘You remember the case in the USA, the Enron case. They put losses into different companies. These are similar cases. It’s not just Manchester City, either. We have reported PSG to the EU. As for Newcastle, we haven’t done anything about them yet. We don’t have enough data.
‘I can’t speak to any sanctions for Manchester City on this matter yet. All I can say is when a company in Europe, in general, is seen to have distorted the market, they often have to return funds. We want Manchester City to be sanctioned. The case is currently in the investigation phase. We haven’t had a reply yet. Remember, the EU have lots of cases.’
