Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said he will quit over financial rule-breaking

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has threatened to walk, as the Citizens are investigated for breaking Premier League rules

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will resign from his post if his employers have lied to him over financial rule breaches.

City are facing an investigation from an independent commission over alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules. The club is alleged to have breached the competition’s rules requiring provision “in utmost good faith” of “accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club’s financial position”, between the 2009/10 season and the 2017/18 campaign.

In 2020, UEFA ruled that City committed “serious breaches” of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations between 2012 and 2016, giving them a two-year ban from European club competitions, which was later reversed – while City have been accused of not cooperating in this current investigation since it started in December 2018.

Manager Guardiola has said in the past that he is prepared to walk over this issue, though – leaving the Eastlands club potentially in crisis, if City are found to be guilty.

The Premier League has never before sanctioned any club which has committed an alleged 100-plus breaches of financial rules.

“When they are accused of something I ask them: ‘Tell me about that’,” Guardiola said in May of last year.

They explain and I believe them. I said to them: ‘If you lie to me, the day after I am not here’. I will be out and I will not be your friend anymore.

“I put my faith in you because I believe you 100% from day one and I defend the club because of that. When you put something here [sponsor] it’s overpaid, but other [clubs] the money comes from the USA but the money is correct, even if it’s higher.

“We have to deal with that, we have to fight with that. As always, I am a big fan to support this organisation, no doubt.

“It’s a situation in 2012 or 2013, I was still in Barcelona, most of the people running that are not here now, but of course I would not like it. What I like is to represent a club who do things properly [and] well. It’s not about winning the Champions League and the Premier League, we want to do well for our people and our fans.”