Jose Mourinho jokes he may be dead before ‘final verdict’ in Man City case

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Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has joked that he may not survive to see the end of Manchester City’s legal battle with the Premier League, after the club appealed a ruling finding them guilty of serious financial rule breaches.

An independent commission found City guilty of all charges relating to breaches of Premier League financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, as well as three out of four charges concerning a failure to cooperate with the investigation. Denying any wrongdoing, City have submitted an official appeal.

The Premier League stated that City relied on “sham” commercial agreements to inflate revenue and understate costs by more than £900 million ($1.19 billion) over nearly a decade, creating inaccurate financial reporting and breaches of spending rules.

Mourinho managed Manchester United from 2016-18 and guided them to a second-placed Premier League finish behind Pep Guardiola’s City in 2017-18.

Mourinho’s Man United finished second behind Guardiola’s City in 2017-18 (Martin Rickett/PA)
Mourinho’s Man United finished second behind Guardiola’s City in 2017-18 (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Archive)

“I would rather laugh about it,” Mourinho said when asked about the case during an interview with Italy’s Corriere dello Sport.

“I think we will eventually get an ending, but we are both in our 60s and we’ll need to be lucky enough to still be around when the final verdict arrives.

“There will be a verdict, then appeals, then more appeals.”

The appeal process will take place in private, and it remains unclear whether any sanctions would be handed down before it is heard, or if any punishment takes immediate effect.

City have claimed maximum points from their opening five Premier League games this season and sit three points clear of defending champions Arsenal at the top of the table.

They are due to return to action when they face Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday. On Friday, City boss Enzo Maresca is scheduled to speak to the media for the first time since the guilty verdict.

Maresca cut a relaxed figure as the City squad returned to training on Thursday following the international break. He was seen smiling and sticking his thumb up the media as he entered City’s training ground ahead of Sunday’s trip to Merseyside for arguably the toughest test of his short reign so far.

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