Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano Says FFP Allegations Against Club Are 'False'

Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano has denied wrongdoing on the club's behalf after UEFA hit the Premier League side with a two-year ban from European competition on Friday.

Per Rob Harris of the Associated Press, UEFA found City guilty of inflating their sponsorship revenue and said the club did not cooperate with their investigation:

Soriano issued a response on Wednesday via City's official website.

MailOnline's Jack Gaughan provided a full transcription of the interview.

"The fans can be sure of two things," Soriano said. "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."

The chief executive added that owner Sheikh Mansour has not injected any money into the club "that has not been properly declared."

Per the Guardian's David Conn, leaked emails from City published by German outlet Der Spiegel appeared to show that Mansour's company, Abu Dhabi United Group, paid £59.5 million of Etihad Airways' £67.5 million annual sponsorship deal for the 2015-16 season.

Soriano also said the club did cooperate with the investigation but "in the end, this FFP Investigatory Chamber relied more on out of context stolen emails than all the other evidence we provided of what actually happened."

The Citizens have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport following their two-season ban, which is set to keep them out of Europe from the start of the 2020-21 campaign. Soriano is hoping their appeal will be resolved "before the beginning of the summer."

As for manager Pep Guardiola and the players, he said they are "calm" and "focused."

Simon Bajkowski of the Manchester Evening News summarised the interview:

The Athletic's Sam Lee gave his take:

City's rivals will also take a keen interest in the progress of the Sky Blues' appeal to CAS.

If the ban is upheld and City finish in the Premier League's top four—which they're almost certain to given they're 11 points clear of fifth with a game in hand—then the team who finishes in fifth will take their Champions League spot for next season.

The Citizens play that game in hand against West Ham United on Wednesday. In the Champions League, they'll take on Real Madrid in the last 16 on February 26.