'Business as usual' for Man City Women despite Premier League guilty verdicts

Manchester City women's manager Andree Jeglertz said Wednesday that his squad was carrying on with "business as usual," days after the Premier League found the club guilty of financial rule violations stretching back nearly a decade, the BBC reported. An independent Premier League commission ruled City guilty of all charges tied to breaches of financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, according to the BBC. The Premier League said City used "sham" contracts with commercial partners to hide secret funding of more than £830m, the BBC reported, while ESPN reported the commission found City disguised over £900 million ($1.18 billion) in revenue over nine years. The Guardian reported the ruling covered more than 100 separate findings. Possible penalties could range from fines to expulsion from the league, according to the AP.

City continues to deny wrongdoing and has until Oct. 2 to file an appeal, the BBC reported. ESPN noted that no new evidence can be introduced during that appeal process. City chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak said in a statement that "our confidence and intent in proving the club's innocence is just as strong as when this began," according to ESPN.

Jeglertz fielded seven questions about the charges before a club press officer steered reporters away from the topic, the BBC reported. Asked how the women's team might be affected, Jeglertz said, "I don't want to comment more around that." Defender Jade Rose said players had received "the same messaging the public has" from the club and added, "I'm just here to talk about the football. That's what we're focusing on." The BBC reported the team held an open training session Wednesday with no visible change to its routine, and that Therese Sjogran, the club's director of women's football, attended as she often does.

ESPN reported that under the scheme, City claimed to have received roughly £949.94 million ($1.254 billion) in commercial revenue from Abu Dhabi sponsors between 2009-10 and 2017-18, though only £119.25 million actually came from the partners themselves, with the remainder paid by owner Abu Dhabi United Group. The BBC reported that BBC Sport understands there is no active investigation into the charges by WSL Football, since the breaches involve different financial regulations than those governing the Women's Super League, which at the time fell under the Football Association.

Etihad Airways, City's principal shirt sponsor since 2009, said in a statement Wednesday evening that it "categorically rejects" the commission's guilty verdicts, which it claimed carried "damaging implications" for the airline despite not being named in the published findings, the Guardian reported. Etihad is now considering legal action against the Premier League, according to the Guardian, which also reported that the airline signed a 10-year, £400m naming-rights deal for the Etihad Stadium in 2011 that was later extended on improved terms in 2021. James Reade, a professor of economics at the University of Reading, told France 24 it was "hard to see it getting anything other than the book thrown at them."

Jeglertz also responded to a social media statement from former men's team manager Pep Guardiola voicing support for the club, the BBC reported. Asked whether he stood with City, Jeglertz said, "Definitely. I am working at the club now so that's who I am hired by and working with, so, for sure." He added that preparing for upcoming matches had not become harder despite the controversy, saying, "We haven't changed anything, we have just kept on doing everything we normally do," according to the BBC.

City's appeal is due by Oct. 2, the BBC reported. The women's team currently sits top of the WSL table with 12 points from its opening four matches and is scheduled to face Real Madrid on Thursday at 20:00 BST in its second Women's Champions League league-phase match, having drawn its opener against Bayern Munich the previous week, according to the BBC.