Maresca: City titles 'absolutely not' tainted after guilty verdict
Manchester City's titles are "absolutely not" tainted.
That was the message from manager Enzo Maresca after an independent commission found the club guilty of most of the 115 charges brought by the Premier League. He was speaking ahead of Sunday's trip to Liverpool, City's first match since the verdict was announced, according to BBC Sport.
The panel ruled that City had broken the league's financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. It found the club guilty of using 'sham' contracts and misleading accounts to disguise more than £830m in secret funding. In plain terms, the commission said City did not tell the truth about where a huge part of its money really came from.
City reject that conclusion and have appealed. The club said the ruling contained "clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe". Maresca backed that stance fully, saying he trusts the owner, chief executive and sporting director 100% and believes the club will win the appeal.
An appeal is a formal request for a different panel to look at the decision again. No one at the club is treating the commission's ruling as final. Maresca was clear that his job is to keep the players focused while that legal process runs its course.
He arrived at City in June as Pep Guardiola's successor. It is a huge job, and he has started it with five wins from his first five Premier League games. That run has kept the talk on football for a new manager who was nowhere near the club during the years covered by the case.
The test now is sharp. City go to Anfield to face Liverpool on Sunday. It is always one of the loudest away days in the English calendar, and this one comes with extra noise around it. Maresca confirmed striker Erling Haaland is "ready" to play.
The Premier League has published its own statement on the commission decision, titled "Premier League Statement: Manchester City FC" (Premier League). The case was heard under the old Profitability and Sustainability Rules, the previous limits on how much clubs can lose. Those rules have since been replaced by a new financial system (Premier League).
For supporters, this means a strange split screen. There is a legal fight that could run for months, and there is 90 minutes at Anfield that will be decided by passes, tackles and finishes. Maresca wants his players living only in that second world. Win there, and the mood around City changes again.
