Soriano: "The most important thing I have to say today is that the allegations are not true. They are simply not true"
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City chief: The allegations are false
Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano insists 'allegations are simply not true' after UEFA found them in 'serious' breach of the Financial Fair Play rules.
Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano insists 'allegations are simply not true' after UEFA found them in 'serious' breach of the Financial Fair Play rules
In Manchester City's first extended response to their European ban, chief executive Ferran Soriano insists the allegations are "false".
In an interview with the club's in-house media, Soriano was firm in City's stance, saying they will do everything they can to prove that the allegations are false. "Well, the most important thing I have to say today is that the allegations are not true. They are simply not true.
"The fans can be sure of two things. The first one is that the allegations are false. And the second is that we will do everything that can be done to prove so.
"We know the fans are supporting us. We can feel it. MCFC fans have gone through challenges over the decades. This is just another challenge. We will stick together, we will go through it and we will not let the fans down.
We are looking for an early resolution obviously through a thorough process and a fair process so my best hope is that this will be finished before the beginning of the summer and until then for us, it is business as usual.
Ferran Soriano (right)
"The owner has not put money in this club that has not been properly declared. We are a sustainable football club, we are profitable, we don't have debt, our accounts have been scrutinised many times, by auditors, by regulators, by investors and this is perfectly clear.
"We are looking for an early resolution obviously through a thorough process and a fair process so my best hope is that this will be finished before the beginning of the summer and until then for us, it is business as usual."
"The owner has not put money in this club that has not been properly declared. We are a sustainable football club, we are profitable, we don't have debt, our accounts have been scrutinised many times, by auditors, by regulators, by investors and this is perfectly clear.
"We are looking for an early resolution obviously through a thorough process and a fair process so my best hope is that this will be finished before the beginning of the summer and until then for us, it is business as usual."
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Soriano insists both the manager and players are fully focused on the football side of the club, and remain calm.
"Obviously, [Pep] has been kept informed about this process but this is not something for him to respond to. He is focused on the football, he is focusing on the game, the game at hand, the game today, tomorrow and the next weeks.
"As well as the players. They are calm, they are focused and this matter is more a business matter, a legal matter than a football matter."
'Less about justice, more about politics'
In a statement on Friday, UEFA said City "overstated its sponsorship revenue in its accounts and in the break-even information submitted to UEFA between 2012 and 2016".
The club was also found guilty of "failing to cooperate in the investigation by the CFCB".
When asked what the club had not co-operated with, Soriano insisted City had provided the necessary information.
Ferran Soriano has spoken out about the allegations, claiming they are false
"We did co-operate with this process. We delivered a long list of documents and support that we believe is irrefutable evidence that the claims are not true.
"It was hard because we did this in the context of information being leaked to the media, and feeling that every step and engagement of the way, that we were considered guilty before anything was even discussed.
"But in the end, this is an internal process that has been initiated and then prosecuted and then judged by this FFP chamber at UEFA.
"We provided the evidence but this FFP Investigatory Chamber relied more on out-of-context stolen emails than all the other evidence we provided of what actually happened and I think it is normal that we feel like we feel.
"Ultimately, based on our experience and our perception, this seems to be less about justice and more about politics."
UEFA's Club Financial Control Body is made up of European lawyers, judges and politicians. Although the members of its investigatory and adjudicatory chamber are appointed by the UEFA executive committee, it is considered to be independent of UEFA.
UEFA have decided not to respond to Soriano's statement.
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