The Japan Times - Man City chief Soriano slams Premier League 'conspiracy theory'

City have been found guilty of all charges related to breaking Premier League financial rules between 2009 and 2018 by an independent commission.

But the former Premier League champions immediately responded by revealing their intention to appeal against the verdict.

In a video message to City staff, Soriano came out fighting against the Premier League decision.

"A document has been made public with an opinion of the Premier League commission which is negative to our interests," he said.

"I want to explain exactly what this is, the next steps, and how we are going to continue to defend the club and finally be vindicated in this process."

City could face relegation if their appeal is unsuccessful, with other punishments potentially including a large points deduction or massive fine.

They could also be stripped of the eight English titles won since the club's Abu Dhabi-backed takeover in 2008.

Insisting the Premier League have been given "irrefutable" evidence the charges should be dismissed, Soriano launched a vociferous defence of City's case.

"This has gone on for so long that it's important to remind ourselves that the whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation; that the owner's personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi," he said.

"This is just not true. Irrefutable evidence has been provided to the Premier League commission that shows that it could not happen and that it did not happen.

"This includes bank statements, money transfers, witnesses, and everything necessary to categorically demonstrate the money did not come from the owner.

"Every other false charge that has been thrown at us and aggressively marketed and promoted comes from that simple, central, and completely false accusation."

- 'We have been here before' -

Soriano said City's legal team would move into action to prove the Premier League verdict was "unsafe".

"Surprisingly for us and for our lawyers, after nearly two years, the Premier League commission has issued an opinion that supports the Premier League's conspiracy theory," he said.

"To do so, the opinion had to actually ignore the extensive evidence provided by the club in order to reach a conclusion that is clearly wrong.

"Our lawyers will now file an appeal that sets out that the opinion contains clear material errors of law, principle, and fact, and it is unsafe."

City successfully overturned a two-year ban from European club competitions, imposed by UEFA for breaching Financial Fair Play regulations, after taking the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in 2020.

"Remember, we have been here before," he said.

"In 2020, we were also wrongly ruled against for many of the same issues. We appealed to an independent body, CAS, and we won.

"We will now be relentless in our work. We will focus on the independent appeal process and also all other legal avenues available to us in order to win the case.

"And we will take all necessary action to protect the club and seek compensation from any party that tries to damage it, now and in the future.

"Very soon, we will look back at this and recognise it as another time in our history when we dealt with adversity, and overcame it together."

K.Inoue--JT