"Great day for football!" Pep Guardiola reacts to CAS decision ahead of Bournemouth game
- 4 years ago
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Pep Guardiola says his and City’s focus is solely trained on an ‘incredible’ next four or five weeks in the wake of the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision to overturn a two-year ban from the Champions League.
CAS delivered their verdict on Monday, in which City were cleared of breaching Financial Fair Play regulations between 2012 and 2016.
The decision reversed the ban issued by UEFA in February and means City will play in the Champions League next season.
Guardiola hailed it a great day for the Club and said he is now looking forward to competing on the pitch in Europe.
“[I’m] incredibly happy for the decision, which shows what all the people said about the club was not true,” he said at his press conference ahead of Wednesday’s game against Bournemouth.
“If we did something wrong we would accept the decision of UEFA and CAS because we did something wrong.
“We have the right to defend ourselves when we believe what we have done is correct. Three independent judges said this.
“We are incredibly happy because we can defend what we have done on the pitch.”
Having been absolved by CAS, Guardiola hopes the criticism City have faced since UEFA issued the ban will come to an end.
“It would be nice [for the criticism to stop], but I don't think so,” he added.
“What happened in recent years, how many people came to our club, whispering on us. I would love to finish.
“I would like to say to these kind of people ‘look in our eyes and say something face to face and go out onto the pitch and play as rivals and after if you beat us, we will shake hands and congratulate them.’
“But they lost off the pitch. They have to go on the pitch and beat us, like sportsmen that we are.
“If we had done something wrong, we would accept a ban from any department – the Premier League, UEFA, FIFA.
“Yesterday was a great day for football because we showed that we play the same rules of all the elite clubs.
“We can play in the Champions League next season because what we have done is right, is proper.
“That’s why they have to accept it, go on the pitch and play against us there.”
Guardiola also had a message for leading clubs in England and Europe.
“I know for the elite clubs, like Liverpool, Manchester United and especially Arsenal, it is uncomfortable us being here,” he explained.
“But they have to understand, we deserve to be here. We want to compete with them and try to achieve like they achieved in the past.
“We deserve to be stronger. We have incredible people working in this club to make it better, to make our fans proud.
“We don’t have to ask permission to be there. We deserve to be there.
“We have made a step forward in 10-years. We invested a lot of money, like a lot of clubs. We did it the right way.
Pep Guardiola says his and City’s focus is solely trained on an ‘incredible’ next four or five weeks in the wake of the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision to overturn a two-year ban from the Champions League.
CAS delivered their verdict on Monday, in which City were cleared of breaching Financial Fair Play regulations between 2012 and 2016.
The decision reversed the ban issued by UEFA in February and means City will play in the Champions League next season.
Guardiola hailed it a great day for the Club and said he is now looking forward to competing on the pitch in Europe.
“[I’m] incredibly happy for the decision, which shows what all the people said about the club was not true,” he said at his press conference ahead of Wednesday’s game against Bournemouth.
“If we did something wrong we would accept the decision of UEFA and CAS because we did something wrong.
“We have the right to defend ourselves when we believe what we have done is correct. Three independent judges said this.
“We are incredibly happy because we can defend what we have done on the pitch.”
Having been absolved by CAS, Guardiola hopes the criticism City have faced since UEFA issued the ban will come to an end.
“It would be nice [for the criticism to stop], but I don't think so,” he added.
“What happened in recent years, how many people came to our club, whispering on us. I would love to finish.
“I would like to say to these kind of people ‘look in our eyes and say something face to face and go out onto the pitch and play as rivals and after if you beat us, we will shake hands and congratulate them.’
“But they lost off the pitch. They have to go on the pitch and beat us, like sportsmen that we are.
“If we had done something wrong, we would accept a ban from any department – the Premier League, UEFA, FIFA.
“Yesterday was a great day for football because we showed that we play the same rules of all the elite clubs.
“We can play in the Champions League next season because what we have done is right, is proper.
“That’s why they have to accept it, go on the pitch and play against us there.”
Guardiola also had a message for leading clubs in England and Europe.
“I know for the elite clubs, like Liverpool, Manchester United and especially Arsenal, it is uncomfortable us being here,” he explained.
“But they have to understand, we deserve to be here. We want to compete with them and try to achieve like they achieved in the past.
“We deserve to be stronger. We have incredible people working in this club to make it better, to make our fans proud.
“We don’t have to ask permission to be there. We deserve to be there.
“We have made a step forward in 10-years. We invested a lot of money, like a lot of clubs. We did it the right way.