Man City boss Pep Guardiola bites back at Aleksander Ceferin over claim that he was SURE of the club’s FFP guilt… as he urges the UEFA president to ‘wait’ and ‘respect the procedure’ over their 115 Premier League charges

Pep Guardiola has blasted UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin over claims that he was sure of Manchester City‘s guilt of breaching Financial Fair Play regulations.

City were handed a two-year ban from European competition and fined £25million in February 2020 after they were found guilty of breaking FFP rules and of misleading UEFA.

The ban was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport seven months later, but City now face potential action from the Premier League after they were charged with 115 alleged breaches of financial regulations. 

Ceferin this week claimed that UEFA had been right to find City of breaking their own financial rules – despite having their two-year ban overturned.

Guardiola hit back at the UEFA president in his press conference on Thursday afternoon, insisting Ceferin should ‘wait’ and ‘respect’ the procedure.

Pep Guardiola has fired back at Aleksander Ceferin over claims that he was sure of Manchester City’s guilt of breaching Financial Fair Play regulations

City were handed a two-year ban from European competition in February 2020 after they were found guilty of breaking FFP rules – but the decision was later overturned

He told reporters: ‘As a lawyer that he is, the president of UEFA he should wait, and after he can do whatever he wants. 

‘Whatever sentence there is about Uefa he has to respect it. He has a lot of jobs to do at Uefa, to be involved in the case with lawyers, he should respect the procedure and understand we have the right to defend ourselves. It’s the only thing I can say.’

Ceferin refused to talk about the Premier League’s investigation, but remained adamant UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body made the right call four years ago – and believes they will be vindicated.

‘We know we were right,’ he told The Telegraph. ‘We wouldn’t decide if we didn’t think we were right.

‘I trust that the decision of our independent body was correct.’

Pressure on the Premier League to progress with City’s investigation has been exacerbated by the recent charges against Everton and Nottingham Forest.

The Toffees were hit with a 10-point penalty in November last year for breaching the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations (PSR).

They could now face a new points deduction along with Forest after being charged for a similar offence earlier this month. 

Guardiola has told Ceferin that City have the right to ‘defend’ themselves over their 115 charges by the Premier League for alleged breaches of financial regulations

Ceferin said he understood the frustration of Everton and Forest fans in light of City’s ongoing case.

‘They want to know what’s going on and what are the consequences but I don’t want to enter into this concrete process because I don’t know what the Premier League is dealing with,’ he explained.

‘I really don’t want to criticise, or something like that. It wouldn’t be fair.’