Mauricio Pochettino has called Manchester City’s long success “a time of trickery” after reports say they broke the Premier League’s financial rules.
City is believed to have been found guilty of most of the 115 charges against them.
An independent commission reached this decision, which was reported widely on Friday, but the Premier League has not made any official announcement yet.
City has strongly denied the charges. Their chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said on Saturday that he still believes they can prove the club is innocent.
Since their takeover by Abu Dhabi-based owners in 2008, City has won many trophies, including the Premier League and Champions League.
Pochettino, who is the United States manager, spent seven years managing in the Premier League with Chelsea, Tottenham, and Southampton.
The Argentine thinks City’s guilt has harmed both the club and the Premier League overall.
“Whatever punishment, it’s impossible to turn back time,” Pochettino told reporters.
“It’s done a lot of damage. Many clubs followed the rules and some didn’t. It is a huge sadness. We get into a situation where what got celebrated wasn’t that real, what seemed good maybe wasn’t so good, what didn’t look good maybe was good but couldn’t be good because of what happened.
“We went through something where sporting fairness didn’t exist. So, how do you repair everything that was damaged because of that? If it’s true that all of the 114 rules were broken, we’ve lived through a period of deception.”
The charges cover a time from 2009-10 to 2017-18. City is also accused of not cooperating with Premier League investigations from December 2018 to February 2023.
City is expected to appeal their punishment, which has not been announced yet. This could include a points deduction, being kicked out of the Premier League, or a large fine.
There have also been calls for City to lose the Premier League titles they won since 2008.
Pochettino recently said Chelsea should lose the 2016-17 Premier League title after they were found guilty of breaking rules in the past. He believes the trophy should go to his Tottenham team, who finished second that season.
But Pochettino is not sure about a fair punishment for City.
“What are they going to do? An economic punishment? Docking points? It’s really hard,” he said.
“If I remember being at Southampton, then Tottenham, I remember building the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and not having the money for a transfer for 18 months.
“Tottenham was fighting for titles with those above us and every year in the top four, getting to the semi-finals of the Champions League without being able to do a transfer for 18 months, all because we needed to get used to the Premier League financial controls?
“They were so strict with us but also so lenient with others. Because of that, that’s why I say it’s all very strange.
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