Ex-Arsenal boss Wenger reacts to Prem charges against Man City and predicts possible punishment
Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says he “was quite surprised” to see Man City charged by the Premier League over alleged breaches of their financial rules.
The champions were rocked when they were charged with 115 breaches of the Premier League’s Financial Fair Play regulations last Monday……..Continue Reading
Man City deny any wrongdoing and their fans drowned out the Premier League anthem with boos prior to kick-off of their clash with Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
When asked about how he felt over Man City facing such serious allegations, Wenger told beIN Sports: “I was in this case where I had to fight with no money against teams that had unlimited resource.
“I know well what it is to be in that position and I just felt you have in every club to work with your resources and do the best you can.
“After it’s a problem of the Premier League to decide.
“FFP is not perfect I agree completely on that and will people with unlimited resources who come into the game today accept that they cannot invest money?
“I cannot believe that. What is the interest in buying a football club?”
When asked if there was any chance Man City could be expelled from the Premier League, Wenger added: “Very small one. I think so.
“I believe at the moment I know quite well Khaldoon (Al Mubarak) and I think he’s an intelligent man and an honest man so I was quite surprised by the charges they face so let’s see the outcome.
“If they are guilty then they will face penalties I don’t know what they will be.”
Last week former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan called for the Premier League to hand out the “ultimate consequences” to Man City if they are found guilty.
“What we don’t want to be looking at is financial consequences, because that’s not easy for them to overcome, is it?” Jordan said on talkSPORT.
“I like to think that if they’re guilty of the things they’ve been charged with, like any other football club, they get the ultimate consequences. That means points, that means the consideration of what division they play in.
“It means the whole rubicon being crossed and saying we either mean it or we don’t. We have a menu of consequences and the last thing we want to see is Manchester City getting a £50 million fine. They couldn’t care less about a £50 million fine.
“I’m talking about the consequences of their behaviour over a 10-year period. If they’re found guilty of 10 years’ worth of financial misrepresentation, what do you think that looks like? What do you think it means.”
