Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City didn’t allow the criticism of Liverpool’s manager Jurgen Klopp and Tottenham Hotspur’s manager Jose Mourinho to go unattended.
The two managers – Klopp and Mourinho, have registered their displeasure over the ruling of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which overturned the 2-year Champions League ban slammed on City by UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB).
CAS did not only lift the ban, but they also reduced the fine UEFA slammed on the Premier League club from 30 million euros to 10 million euros for breaching UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations between 2012 and 2016.
Also read: CAS Lift Manchester City 2-year UEFA Champions League Ban
In their separate reactions after CAS announced on Monday that the ban has been lifted, Jose Mourinho said: “If Manchester City is not guilty of it, to be punished by some million is a disgrace. If you’re not guilty you’re not punished. In the other way, if you’re guilty you should be banned. In any case, it’s a disaster.”
While Jurgen Klopp simply described the ruling as not being a good day for football because the UEFA Financial Fair Play Rule which the European football governing body confirmed that Manchester City breached was put together to safeguard the competitiveness of teams and the sport itself.
Also read: CAS’ decision to lift Manchester City’s ban: Guardiola, Klopp, Mourinho, Mikel Arteta React
Pep Guardiola tells Mourinho and Klopp to call him
In his response to the criticism of the two rival coaches, Pep Guardiola reminded them that they have his number, hence, they should call him so that he can explain the ruling to them.
He insisted that the CAS ruling had vindicated Manchester City and the three judges that arrived at the decision to overturn the two-year ban can not be wrong at the same time.
“If they want to talk, I’m here,” Guardiola told Sky Sports. “The sentence from the three independent judges was clear. But, if they want, they know my telephone number, they can call me and I can explain. It’s not a problem at all.
“But I think we don’t have to discuss a lot because the sentence was clear. All the suggestions that we were lying or cheating, it was not like this. We were clean like they say are.”
Manchester City are currently 2nd on the Premier League table behind the league champions Liverpool football club. They have 72 points in 35 matches, 9 points more than 3rd placed Chelsea football club.
They have a game against Bournemouth at 5:30 PM (UK time), July 15, 2020, and, it is expected to be another routine win for the in-form former Premier League champions.
