Guardiola backs Manchester City as his past comments on financial charges face scrutiny

Pep Guardiola’s support for Manchester City is under renewed scrutiny after BBC Sport published a review on 8 October 2026 of what he said about the club’s financial-rule case during his years as manager. Guardiola has offered a message of solidarity since an independent Premier League commission found City guilty of serious breaches. City has appealed the findings, and no sanction has been decided.

The BBC reported that Guardiola posted last week: ‘Let me be clear: we will get through this together. I love you all.’ His intervention came after he left the manager’s job in the summer. According to the BBC, he remains employed by City Football Group as a global ambassador. His message expressed support for people connected to the club; it did not settle the disputed findings or say what penalty, if any, City will face.

What the commission found against Manchester City

In its statement on the case, the Premier League said the independent commission found City guilty of all charges concerning serious breaches of its financial rules across nine seasons, from 2009/10 through 2017/18. It also upheld three of four alleged breaches of the club’s duties to cooperate with the league’s investigation. The charges therefore concern a period that began before Guardiola became City manager in 2016.

The league said the commission found that City arranged commercial contracts and other agreements that misrepresented the underlying transactions. According to its account, arrangements funded in part by Abu Dhabi United Group, then the club’s owner, inflated reported revenue and reduced reported costs by more than £900 million over the affected period. The commission also found, the league said, that City filed misstated accounts and concealed its true financial position from auditors and football regulators.

How Guardiola’s public position developed

The BBC’s review traces Guardiola’s response back to May 2019, when questions about alleged undeclared payments arose after City won the FA Cup. Asked whether he had received such payments, he challenged the suggestion and said he trusted the club’s chairman and chief executive. ‘They tell me we are fair and we absolutely follow the rules. I believe them,’ he said at the time, according to the BBC.

In February 2020, Guardiola backed City’s decision to appeal a separate UEFA ruling that had barred it from European competition for two years. ‘The club has to fight and I trust the club 100% what they have done and they have explained to me,’ he said, as quoted by the BBC. The Court of Arbitration for Sport later overturned that suspension, finding the more serious charges either unproven or, in some cases, too old to pursue. That UEFA outcome did not decide the Premier League case now on appeal.

The BBC also records Guardiola saying in 2023 that he believed City was innocent and would accept the commission’s decision. His latest message came after the commission’s adverse findings and after he had left the manager’s role. It shows that his public support for the club continues, but his statement does not explain how City’s appeal will be argued or decided.

City’s appeal and the decisions still pending

Manchester City said it lodged a comprehensive appeal at 7pm on 1 October. In its statement, the club said the commission’s opinion contained material errors of law, principle and fact, and asserted that it was innocent of the accusations. City said it was restricted in what it could say further while proceedings continued. The appeal means the commission’s findings remain contested.

The Premier League said the question of sanctions would be handled separately. Its rules give the commission options that include fines, points deductions and other sporting sanctions, but its statement announced none. The league said a 42-day hearing had ended in December 2024 and that a redacted core decision had been published; additional appendices had yet to be released at the time of its statement. The appeal outcome and any penalty remain open questions for City, its rivals and supporters.