'I agree with Tebas' - Pep Guardiola blasts Man City rivals over Premier League charges

Pep Guardiola feels that Premier League clubs want to see Manchester City sanctioned as he joked about agreeing with longtime critic of the club Javier Tebas for the first time.

Tebas, who has been in charge of La Liga for more than a decade, said this week that he spoken to 'many Premier League clubs' about the serious charges levelled against the Blues and that 'most of them understand that City should be sanctioned'. An independent hearing has not even started yet, but news that it will begin next week has brought the story back to the top of news bulletins.

Guardiola and City have no love for Tebas, yet they also remember what happened when they went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in 2020 to overturn a Champions League ban imposed by UEFA following an investigation into their finances. Nine Premier League clubs - Arsenal, Burnley, Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle, Tottenham and Wolves - all wrote to the Swiss court seeking to ensure City's punishment was enforced immediately amid fears that they would try to delay proceedings.

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City had in fact not looked to do that and were vindicated in July 2020 when CAS ruled in their favour and reinstated them in the Champions League. Guardiola was furious with the other clubs for trying to intervene though, and that experience has helped him to the opinion that clubs are once again hoping to see a penalty imposed on City.

"Maybe he's right," Guardiola said of Tebas. "For the fact that all the Premier League teams want us to be