Joe Hart backs Khaldoon Al Mubarak over City charges
Joe Hart says he believes Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak when he says the club are innocent of breaking Premier League financial rules.
City were found guilty of the majority of 115 alleged breaches and are set to appeal the ruling. Hart gave his view on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club on 28 September, three days after reports of the verdict first emerged BBC Sport.
He said he has "no reason not to trust Khaldoon" and that what the chairman has said is enough for him. He described Al Mubarak as someone who has "led the club brilliantly" and as a person to trust.
Hart knows City from the inside. He made 348 appearances for the club in all competitions between 2006 and 2016, a run that took him from young goalkeeper to England No 1. In that time he won the FA Cup in 2010-11, the Premier League in 2011-12 and 2013-14, and the League Cup in 2013-14 and 2015-16.
The case goes back to February 2023, when the Premier League accused City, who are UAE-owned, of providing misleading information about its finances WVNS-TV. The accusation covered a nine-year period from 2009 to 2018. The rules at the heart of it are designed to stop clubs spending far more than they earn. In plain terms, clubs have to show their books add up.
Al Mubarak has said he remains committed to proving City's innocence and that the process still has a long way to run. An appeal means a different panel is asked to review the ruling. That kind of process can take months, so this story will not end quickly.
What makes this stand out is who is speaking. Hart lifted the league title with City and stood in goal for some of the nights that built the modern club. He did not claim to have studied the evidence. He spoke about trust in a man he worked under.
For fans picking this up, that leaves two tracks. There is the legal fight, slow and technical. And there is loyalty, quick and human, which is where Hart planted himself.
