Former City chairman David Bernstein has called for the club’s current directors to resign following the independent commission’s guilty verdict.
Bernstein’s intervention leads Wednesday’s Man City news and talking points, with Pep Guardiola offering a very different response and Football Leaks founder Rui Pinto claiming he still possesses unpublished material relating to the club.
City, meanwhile, have until Friday to exercise their right of appeal.
Bernstein calls for Man City directors to resign
Bernstein, who served as City chairman between 1998 and 2003 before later becoming chairman of the Football Association, delivered one of the strongest reactions yet to the commission’s findings.
Speaking to The Guardian, he described the situation as “beyond awful” and said City’s directors “have to resign”.
“If this was a public company, the directors would surely have to go,” Bernstein said.
He argued that the commission’s findings left serious questions for City’s leadership and said he didn’t believe the current board could credibly continue.
Bernstein’s time as City chairman ended five years before the Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008 and before the period covered by the Premier League’s financial charges.
His comments are his assessment of what should happen next. City reject the commission’s findings, maintain their innocence and intend to appeal.
Guardiola offers emphatic support
Pep Guardiola’s response to the verdict was markedly different.
The former City manager issued his first public statement since the commission’s findings were published, saying: “I want every single Manchester City fan across the world to know I am here; more than ever.”
Guardiola also expressed his support for owner Sheikh Mansour, chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, chief executive Ferran Soriano, Enzo Maresca, the players, staff and supporters.
“Let me be clear: we will get through this together,” he added.
Guardiola left City in the summer after 10 years in charge, but his first intervention since the verdict makes clear that his support for his former club remains.
Rui Pinto says he holds more City material
Football Leaks founder Rui Pinto has also responded to the verdict, claiming he still possesses a “significant amount of unreleased material related to Manchester City”.
Pinto said the unpublished files contained information that could be “highly relevant”.
His Football Leaks disclosures led to extensive reporting on City’s financial affairs, particularly by Der Spiegel.
What Pinto’s unpublished material contains, whether investigators have previously seen it and whether it could have any bearing on City’s appeal remain unknown.
Friday appeal deadline approaches
City have until Friday, October 2 to exercise their right of appeal against the independent commission’s decision.
The Premier League confirmed that City were found guilty of all charges relating to serious financial breaches. Three of the four alleged breaches concerning co-operation with the League’s investigation were also upheld.
City reject those findings. Soriano has said the club’s lawyers will argue that the decision contains material errors of law, principle and fact.
No sanction has yet been announced.
International duty continues
Away from the legal case, Enzo Fernandez and Geronimo Rulli are with Argentina for their friendly against Bolivia.
Neither player’s involvement is guaranteed until Lionel Scaloni names his team.
City’s full schedule can be followed in our international duty tracker, with more of Enzo Maresca’s players due in action over the coming days.
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