Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has expressed his frustration regarding the financial fair play charges that have overshadowed the club's on-pitch success. He has vowed to express his "blunt views" on the matter once the opportunity arises.
Under the guidance of manager Pep Guardiola, City achieved a remarkable treble by winning the Champions League, Premier League, and FA Cup last season. This feat placed them in an elite group of English clubs who have accomplished such a milestone.
However, the club has been facing charges since February, with 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League's financial fair play regulations dating back to 2009. Additionally, they have been accused of lack of cooperation during the investigation.
Guardiola has recently voiced his desire to have these allegations resolved promptly, as he does not want them to cast a shadow over his team's achievements.
Khaldoon, while speaking to the club's in-house media, mentioned that he could not provide detailed comments on the charges due to legal reasons. However, he stated his intention to engage in a conversation about the matter once the process reaches its conclusion.
"I'll give you my very blunt views, I promise you that," he said. "I have very strong views on that, but I am going to be unfortunately very restrained today.
"It's very frustrating because it takes so much from the great work that's happening at this club and it's happening not just on the football pitch. The football pitch -- what these players have achieved this year, the treble, is incredible."
Khaldoon said City, who have won five of the past six Premier League titles, were "very well run".
"Today, the value of this group is over $6 billion," said. "We've created so much value -- we've brought in world-class investors. Why? Because we have a commercial machine here that is one of the best in the world."
Khaldoon believes City are the top football brand globally.
"We can go on for half an hour right now with me 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," he said.
"Look at every single one of them and just look at these as the facts and compare us to our competition and then people will throw at us 'you're the biggest spenders', 'you have the biggest squad'.
"I wish people can just pause and ask the question and get the facts and then comment."
(With AFP inputs)
