Soccer-Mourinho jokes Man City case may outlast him as club appeals verdict

Soccer Football - UEFA Champions League - Real Madrid press conference - Ciudad Real Madrid, Valdebebas, Madrid, Spain - September 7, 2026 Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho REUTERS/Susana Vera

Oct 8 (Reuters) - Real Madrid ⁠manager Jose Mourinho joked that he may not live to ⁠see the end of Manchester City's legal battle with the ‌Premier League after the club appealed a ruling that found it 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 of four charges relating to failures to cooperate with ⁠the ‌investigation. City have denied wrongdoing and lodged an appeal.

The Premier League said that City used "sham" commercial agreements to inflate revenue ⁠and understate costs by more than 900 million ​pounds ($1.19 billion) over nearly ‌a decade, resulting in inaccurate financial reporting and breaches of ⁠spending rules.

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

"I would rather laugh about it," ⁠Mourinho said, when asked about the case ​in an interview with Italy'sCorriere 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 be conducted in private and it remains unclear whether any ​sanctions would be imposed before it is heard, ⁠or whether any punishment would take effect immediately.

City, seeking a sixth successive ​league win, are top of the Premier ‌League with 15 points from five ​matches and travel to Liverpool on Sunday.

(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo and Karan Prashant Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)

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足球 - 欧洲冠军联赛 - 皇家马德里新闻发布会 - 西班牙马德里巴尔德贝巴斯皇家马德里城 - 2026 年 9 月 7 日皇家马德里教练何塞·穆里尼奥 REUTERS/Susana Vera

10月8日（路透社）——皇家马德里主教练何塞·穆里尼奥开玩笑说，他可能活不到曼城与英超联赛的法律纠纷结束的那一天。此前，曼城俱乐部对一项认定其严重违反财务规定的裁决提出上诉。

独立委员会认定曼城在2009-10赛季至2017-18赛季期间违反英超联赛财务规定的所有指控成立，同时还认定其在四项指控中三项不配合调查成立。曼城否认有任何不当行为，并已提出上诉。

英超联赛表示，曼城在近十年的时间里，利用“虚假”商业协议虚增收入，并少报成本超过 9 亿英镑（11.9 亿美元），导致财务报告不准确，并违反了支出规则。

穆里尼奥在 2016 年至 2018 年执教曼联，并在 2017 年至 2018 年带领球队获得英超联赛亚军，仅次于瓜迪奥拉执教的曼城。

“我宁愿一笑置之，”穆里尼奥在接受意大利《罗马体育报》采访时被问及此事时说道。

“我认为我们最终会得到一个结局，但我们都60多岁了，我们需要足够幸运，才能在最终判决到来时仍然在世。”

“会先有判决，然后是上诉，然后是更多上诉。”

上诉程序将私下进行，目前尚不清楚在审理之前是否会施加任何制裁，或者任何处罚是否会立即生效。

曼城力争联赛六连胜，目前以五场比赛积15分位居英超榜首，他们将于周日客场挑战利物浦。

（Gabriel Araujo 和 Karan Prashant Saxena 在班加罗尔报道；Toby Davis 编辑）

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