‘Lawyers should respect procedure’ - Pep Guardiola bites back at UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin over Man City FFP charges comment

Guardiola was visibly angry with Ceferin for telling The Telegraph this week that UEFA "were right" to hit City with a two-year ban from the Champions League in 2020 for flouting financial fair play rules. The ban was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on appeal.

"As a lawyer that he is, the president of UEFA should wait, and after [he can] do whatever he wants," Guardiola told a press conference on Friday. "He has to respect it and he has to wait. He has a lot of jobs to do at UEFA. Lawyers should respect procedure and understand we have [the] right to defend ourselves."

City made the most of the Champions League ban being overturned, reaching the final in 2021, the semi-finals in 2022 and winning the competition in 2023. They are, however, still awaiting the outcome of the Premier League's 115 charges against them for allegedly breaking its financial rules. A date has been set for their hearing but it is not known when it will take place. If found guilty, City could be relegated from the Premier League and stripped of the three titles they won during the period during which they are accused of breaking the rules.

Guardiola and City have been away in Abu Dhabi for a warm-weather training camp but return to business on Friday against Tottenham in the fourth round of the FA Cup.