Angry Pep Guardiola points finger at Newcastle United, Manchester United – and seven other clubs

Guardiola today accused the club's Premier League rivals of conspiring against them after the champions were charged with more than 100 breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations dating back to 2009.

Asked if he felt other clubs had been driving the matter, Guardiola said: “Of course, it’s the Premier League. I don’t know why. You have to ask the CEOs, (Tottenham Hotspur chairman) Daniel Levy, these kind of people.”

City were previously found guilty of breaching UEFA’s FFP regulations – and banned from European competition for two years – but the sanction was overturned in 2020 following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

And Guardiola named Newcastle United, then owned by Mike Ashley, and rivals Manchester United as two of the cubs that had pushed for their expulsion.

“Nine teams – Burnley, Wolves, Leicester, Newcastle, Spurs, Arsenal, (Manchester) United, Liverpool, Chelsea – (wrote a letter wanting us) out of the Champions League, that they wanted that position,” said Guardiola.

“It’s not an unprecedented story, it’s the second time. We lived that before, two or three years ago.

“You accuse us – we should be out, but between those nine teams before, and the 19 teams now, between their word and the word of my people, I’m sorry, but I rely on the words of my people.”

Guardiola also said that he was confident that City, second in the Premier League, would be exonerated.