Pep Guardiola, the former Manchester City manager, has come under heavy fire after backing the English club following their guilty verdict from the Premier League.
An independent commission found Manchester City guilty of all the breaches relating to the violation of the competition's financial rules over nine seasons, between 2009/2010 and 2017/2018. The Premier League also confirmed the club were guilty of three of four charges relating to a failure to cooperate with the league's investigation.
Two of those seasons fall within Guardiola's time at the club, including the campaign in which he won his first Premier League title.
Writing a scathing piece in "The Times", one of the country's most prestigious newspapers, Matthew Syed branded the Spaniard's legacy "tarnished" and asked whether he was a fraud, aware of the breaches, or short-sighted for failing to spot them.
He said: "We now know that he ran a corrupt club, driven by corrupt contracts, funded by corrupt companies, and during what we can now call a corrupt era."
After pointing to the sum of more than one billion euros City spent across roughly ten years, Syed asked: "There are two possibilities. Either Pep knew, and therefore he is neither a visionary nor a legend, but merely a fraud, or he did not know, in which case he is the most short-sighted of people. I am not a forensic accountant, but I have questioned Manchester City's financial arrangements for more than a decade, despite receiving constant insults and threats. Did Pep see nothing? Is he blind?"
The journalist went further: "Of course there is a third alternative, which is hypocrisy."
His conclusion was blunt: "There is no doubt that Guardiola is a great strategist who has achieved success at many clubs, but let us be honest, his legacy will remain confined to his time at the Etihad Stadium, where the accountants worked the real magic, not the manager."
Guardiola declares his full support for Manchester City
Guardiola broke his silence yesterday, Wednesday, after the guilty verdict, throwing his weight behind the English club where he has spent nine seasons and won every possible title, including six Premier League crowns and one Champions League.
He said: "I want every Manchester City fan to know that I am here, more than ever. I have always been, I still am, and I will always be, a supporter of my club, its owner, its chairman, Ferran, the players, the coaching staff, Enzo, and you, our wonderful fans. Let me assure you: we will overcome this ordeal together. I love you all."