Posted by Chinenye on Wed 30th Sep, 2026 - tori.ng
Pep Guardiola continued to support Manchester City City faced criticism and a UEFA ban that was later overturned, Guardiola maintained that he believed in the club and its officials.
(Ex-Man City coach, Pep Guardiola. Photo credit: The Mirror)
Former Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola stood by the club throughout the Premier League investigation into its alleged financial breaches.
He often said he trusted the club leaders and would accept whatever the legal process decided.
The Premier League charged City with 115 breaches of its financial rules in February 2023.
In May 2019, after City won the domestic treble, Guardiola got angry when asked if he had been paid by the club outside official channels.
He asked if he deserved such a question and said nobody is guilty until it is proven.
He added that he believed club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and chief executive Ferran Soriano when they told him the club followed the rules.
In February 2020, UEFA banned City from the Champions League for two seasons and fined them 30 million euros.
Guardiola said the team fully backed the club and would just focus on playing games.
He said he trusted what the club said and did, and that he would stay unless City sacked him.
After the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the ban in July 2020, he said the club had been damaged and that people called them cheats without giving them the presumption of innocence.
In May 2022, he said every word he spoke in defence of City came from real belief, because he works with these people.
He said if they lied to him, he would leave the next day.
When the 115 charges came in February 2023, Guardiola said the club had already been judged before the case ended, just as with UEFA.
He said he would accept the decision if City were found guilty, but asked what would be done to repair the damage if they were cleared.
By May 2023 he wanted the case finished as soon as possible.
In November 2023, asked if he would rethink his future if City were found guilty and relegated, he said he would answer when a sentence came.
He said his future would not depend on whether City played in the Premier League or League One.
As the hearing approached in August 2024, he said he was happy it was starting and hoped it would end soon for the good of City and all other clubs.
In September 2024 he said an independent panel would decide and he looked forward to the decision.
In November 2024 he said he believed his club and the people there, and that he did not live with the case but with the defeats and the work he had to do.
In May 2026, after announcing he would step down as City manager, he said again that he trusted the club leaders and how they behaved.
Across all those years, Guardiola kept the same position.
He trusted City leaders, said the club should be seen as innocent until a verdict, and promised to accept the outcome of the independent process.