Man City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak hits out at critics bringing Premier League charges
Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak believes the financial burden hanging over the club has unfairly detracted from their success on and off the pitch.
Pep Guardiola’s team has won a historic treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in a memorable season.
But the 115 alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules announced in February have overshadowed their achievements.
In a speech at the end of the season, Al Mubarak said he could not speak specifically about the allegations, but said he would give his “straight opinion” on the matter when proceedings are concluded.
Asked how City are being characterized after the allegations, Al Mubarak said: “It’s very frustrating because it takes so much of the great work that’s happening at the club and it’s not just happening on the football pitch.
Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak says it is “frustrating” that the focus is on the club’s alleged financial breaches rather than their successes.
City completed the Treble as they won the Champions League final in Istanbul
“The football field – we talked about that, what these players have achieved this year, the Treble, is incredible.
“I hope people focus and judge them on their football and what they achieve on the pitch and what they achieve in every competition they compete in. That’s the reality.
“The club as a whole is being run well, being run very well. Today, the value of this group is more than six billion dollars. We’ve created so much value — we’ve attracted world-class investors.
‘Why? Because we have a commercial machine here that is among the best in the world.
“Our executives are targeted by the best teams in the world – always. Besides, it’s a credit to us. I respect that.
“People appreciate that we’re producing — not just the best talent on the field, not just the best talent in the academy, not just the best talent in the group, but we’re producing some of the best executives in the world, some of the best scouts in the world, some of the best sporting staff in the world.
And that’s a testament to the great work this group is doing. We are the number 1 football brand in the world. These are the facts; these are the facts.
The club generates huge revenues. You look at our sales in terms of what we’re producing, in terms of our academy, of our first team.
Al Mubarak and manager Pep Guardiola parade the European Cup after the final in Istanbul
City is only the second club after Manchester United in 1999 to reach this Treble
City owner Sheikh Mansour was present at the victory over Inter Milan in the Champions League final
“Look at last year, I mean look at our net spending numbers. We could go on for half an hour now and I’m just giving you data in terms of net spend over the last season, net spend over the last three years, over the last five years, over the last 10 years — look at each one individually from them and just look at these as the facts and compare us to our competition and then people will throw at us with ‘the biggest spenders’, ‘you guys got the biggest crew’.
“I wish people could pause and ask the question and get the facts and then comment.”
Al Mubarak said the historic performance of Guardiola’s team last season can be surpassed as he admitted he was already thinking about next season.
“Well you can always top it because the future is the future and records are records and as we’ve done every year we continue to build this legacy and build this incredible legacy every year with new achievements, new records, consistency,” he said.
“You look at next season, and what do you think? Look what we have next year. Look what we have this summer, we have the Charity Shield, we have the Super Cup, we have the Club World Cup.
‘This club will participate in the Super Cup and the World Cup for clubs for the first time. And we want to win this one. We want to win these and we want to add them to the history of this great club, to the legacy of this great club.
“All we do is set new records and set new standards. Today I speak to you. It is awesome. But I’m already thinking about next year.
“Even yesterday, I think, you know, there was a joke between me and Ferran [Soriano, the CEO] and Txiki [Begiristain, the director of football] and Pep, when we had our moment, we looked at each other and it was, okay, now we have to do it again.’
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