MANCHESTER CITY LAUNCH FRESH ATTACK AFTER PREMIER LEAGUE VERDICT — FERRAN SORIANO VOWS TO ‘BE RELENTLESS’ IN APPEAL

Manchester City have wasted little time responding to the Premier League’s verdict, with chief executive Ferran Soriano telling staff that the club will fight on and attempt to overturn the decision.

In a three-minute video message sent to employees, Soriano insisted City would continue defending themselves through the appeal process and accused the Premier League case of being built around what he described as a “single false accusation.”

His intervention came after the Premier League Commission’s decision was published, with City now preparing to challenge the findings through the available appeal process.

City have also issued a strongly worded public statement, maintaining that the club is innocent and arguing that the Commission’s opinion contains “clear material errors” of law, principle and fact.

SORIANO: ‘THIS IS JUST NOT TRUE’

Soriano told City employees that the club’s position remained unchanged despite the verdict.

“The whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation – that the owners’ personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi,” he said.

“This is just not true.”

The City chief executive claimed the club had supplied extensive evidence to the Commission, including bank statements, money transfers and witness testimony, which he said demonstrated that the money did not come from the owner.

He then turned his attention directly to the Commission’s findings.

“Surprisingly for us, and for our lawyers, after nearly two years the Premier League Commission has introduced an opinion that supports the Premier League’s conspiracy theory,” Soriano said.

He argued that the opinion had ignored evidence provided by the club and insisted the conclusion was “clearly wrong.”

CITY PREPARE THEIR NEXT MOVE

Soriano confirmed that City’s lawyers will now file an appeal.

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

The club has already made clear that it intends to pursue every available regulatory and legal avenue. Its official statement said the Premier League process remains ongoing and that City would pursue the appeal avenues open to them.

Soriano also pointed to City’s previous legal battle with UEFA as an example of why the club remains confident.

“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 in CAS and we won.”

He vowed that City would be “relentless” in its response, adding that the club would consider other legal avenues and take action to protect its interests.

PREMIER LEAGUE STRIKES A VERY DIFFERENT TONE

The Premier League’s response has been markedly different.

Richard Masters said the Commission’s decision establishes what the league describes as the facts of what happened during the period under investigation.

He also argued that the ruling vindicates the Premier League’s decision to pursue the case and stressed the importance of enforcing the competition’s rules.

“This disciplinary case, and this decision, are the most significant in Premier League history,” Masters said.

However, he acknowledged that the process is not yet finished.

“There are elements of the case that remain to be decided, including, importantly, what sanction must follow for these breaches,” he said.

Masters added that the league intends to move “swiftly” through the remaining stages.

‘ANOTHER TIME WE DEALT WITH ADVERSITY’

For City, though, the verdict appears to have marked the beginning of another legal battle rather than the end of the saga.

Soriano urged employees not to become distracted and told them to remain focused on their work while the appeal process unfolds.

“Very soon we will look back at this and recognise it is another time in our history when we dealt with adversity and overcame it together,” he said.

City’s public statement similarly maintained that the club would continue to defend its position and stressed that it was restricted in what it could say while future proceedings remained outstanding.

The next stage will now shift from the Commission’s verdict to the appeal — and potentially the sanctions that could follow.

For Manchester City, the message from the boardroom is unmistakable: the fight is far from over.