Man City has landed under unwanted spotlight due to their spending, but chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak insists that the Premier League giant is guilty of nothing. He also went a step further by hitting back at the team's critics in an interview.
The Citizens clinched a historic domestic treble after beating Watford in the FA Cup final, adding to their English top-flight and Carabao Cup success. However, their successful season has been smeared by FFP allegations.
The Premier League champion stands accussed of breaching multiple FFP regulations and thus await a ruling from a UEFA panel. A one-year ban from the Champions League has been tipped as the likely punishment should they be found guilty.
While speaking to the English top-flight's official website, Al Mubarak insisted that his side is not worried about the case should the panel analyze the facts only and avoid any agenda. The Man City official also hit back at the team's rivals and La Liga president Javier Tebas, who blamed the Abu Dhabi-owned side for inflating the transfer market.
"He talks about how we distorted the market? There is a hypocrisy in this statement that is ironic," Khaldoon Al Mubarak stated.
"Number one, let's look at the Spanish league, the time of breaking records on player acquisitions, I mean, who started that?
"Let's go back to the world records, [Luis] Figo, [Zinedine] Zidane. These huge jumps in these transfers, where did they happen? You know, the history, you have to look back at the history of La Liga, a league dominated by two clubs, and Mr Tebas should look back at the history of that league and how distortion has happened throughout the ages.
"And then you look back at transfers. In the top 10 transfers of all time, Manchester City has not a single player in that, not a single one. So I don't really take it seriously and I ask our fans to always put it in context. Always look at facts. And I think people with glass homes shouldn't be throwing rocks. I'm happy to talk to anyone as long as the conversation is about facts but once we start talking about innuendo and talking about theories I have no time for that."
The Etihad side's chairman also hit back at their Premier League rivals, accusing them of being jealous of his team's triumphs. The Emirati entrepreneur pointed out that despite the belief that Guardiola and Co. paid their way to success, they have not shattered the transfer records for any position.
"With success, there is a certain level of jealousy, envy, whatever you call it, that's part of the game," he added.
"You know when Manchester United dominated the Premier League for many years, they know what they had to deal with for so many years, that's part of the game.
"It's not easy for our competition, we know that; and by the way, the football world is very small and word comes around very quickly so you know, when someone somewhere in a leading position in any club says something, or briefs something, guess what? We know about it.
"The reality is, we didn't buy the most expensive player in the Premier League, we didn't buy the most expensive goalkeeper, we didn't buy the most expensive midfielder, we didn't buy the most expensive striker, so when people throw that, you know what they throw at us, I go back: let's look at facts, let's talk about facts.
"I will not accept for this club to be used as a diversionary tactic on poor investment decisions from other clubs. People make decisions, they've got to live by them. We've managed ourselves well and we will be judged by facts and facts alone. This is a well-run club. That's a fact; a well-managed wage to revenue ratio that compares to some of the best run clubs in his league, la liga but frankly in all of European football."
