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Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca backed the club after an independent commission found them guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules.
City boss Enzo Maresca.
(AFP)
Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca has backed the club following an independent commission’s finding that they breached Premier League financial rules more than 100 times.
The Italian insisted that he had complete faith in the club and rejected suggestions that their trophy-winning achievements over the past 15 years had been tainted. However, he also accepted that he had not read the Independent Commission’s verdict finding City guilty and that he didn’t ‘understand many things’ about the unprecedented situation which he finds himself in, months into the job.
Speaking at his first press conference since the verdict was announced last week, Maresca said his trust in the club’s leadership was a major reason behind his decision to join in June. He had previously worked at City as part of Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff.
“I completely trust the club,” Maresca said. “I trust the club because I trust the people and this is also the reason why I joined the club… there is not another club in the world where I would like to be.”
The commission found that City had arranged “sham” contracts with commercial partners to artificially inflate revenue and reduce costs by more than £900 million (about Rs. 11,500 crore) over nine seasons between 2009 and 2018. The club, which has denied wrongdoing, is appealing against the ruling.
“I trust the club because I know the people. I promise you, my focus is just on football. I am not thinking about different things because, first of all, I don’t understand many things about different things. I just focus on the things I can control, which is the football side,” he said.
The Italian said discussions about the case should take place after the appeal is decided, using City’s terminology that the ‘process’ wasn’t done yet, even though the club had been declared guilty. When asked whether he believed the club’s side that they were being sort of conspired against, he added that he had full confidence in the club’s owner, chief executive, sporting director and wider organisation.
City have enjoyed significant success since their Abu Dhabi-backed takeover in 2008, winning eight Premier League titles, the Champions League and several other trophies. However, Maresca dismissed claims that their achievements should now be viewed differently.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “I know the effort from the players, from the club, from the manager in that time, who was Pep. So I know exactly the effort that the club put to achieve that kind of target.”
City will travel to Liverpool on Sunday for their first match since the verdict.
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Ask News18Enzo Maresca stated that he completely trusts the club’s leadership and personnel, which was a major reason he joined in June. However, he admitted that he had not read the independent commission’s verdict and did not understand many things about the unprecedented situation.
Ask News18October 09, 2026, 16:44 IST
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