Al Mubarak’s letter landed on the club’s channels on Saturday, less than 48 hours after the verdict on the biggest regulatory case in the competition’s history was first reported.
“The Premier League process still has a long way to run, and our confidence and intent in proving the Club’s innocence is just as strong as when this began,” Al Mubarak wrote.
“I have been part of this Club for 18 years,” he told supporters in the letter posted to the club’s website.
“While some people have been quick to reach their own conclusions, and there is so much noise swirling around us, nothing has changed.”
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Legal restrictions kept him from going further.
“There are so many things that I would like to be able to share with you to help you understand why we feel so confident in our position,” he wrote, pointing fans back to the club’s original response when the charges were laid in February 2023.
What the panel decided
The verdict, first reported on Friday by David Ornstein of The Athletic, closed the hearing stage of a case referred to an independent commission in February 2023. The 115 alleged breaches cover the seasons from 2009-10 to 2017-18.
According to reports on the ruling, the charges break down into 54 counts of failing to provide accurate financial information, 14 relating to inaccurate details of manager and player payments, seven for breaches of the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules, five for breaching UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations, and 35 for failing to cooperate with the league’s investigation.
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No punishment has been decided. Under Premier League rules the panel can impose fines, points deductions, expulsion or the stripping of previous titles. City are expected to appeal.
The manager who left before the verdict
The ruling arrived at a squad now run by Enzo Maresca, who was appointed by the club in June after Pep Guardiola’s decade in charge came to an end.
In his final months at the club, Guardiola had continued to publicly back the ownership’s position.
“I trust them. I spoke with them and trust how they behave and how they did,” he told reporters before leaving.
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He had gone by the time the verdict landed, leaving Al Mubarak’s weekend letter, which pointed supporters back to the club’s original February 2023 statement, as the only response so far from inside the club.
Read also: 114 of 115 charges proven. Guardiola's vow to stay through it outlasted his own tenure.
