Arabic version: ماريسكا: ألقاب مانشستر سيتي ليست مشوبة

According to BBC News, Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca says the club’s titles are “absolutely not” tainted after an independent commission found the club guilty of the majority of 115 Premier League charges. City have appealed the verdict, saying the ruling contained “clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe”.

The commission found City guilty of charges concerning breaches of Premier League financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. Its findings included ‘sham’ contracts and misleading accounts in a scheme said to disguise secret funding of more than £830m.

Maresca said he trusted the club’s owner, chief executive, sporting director and wider organisation “100%”. He said the appropriate time to discuss the case would be when City win their appeal, while stressing that he and the players can control only the football side and are focused on that.

City travel to Liverpool on Sunday for their first match since the verdict was announced. Maresca expects a difficult occasion at Anfield and said the environment will probably be worse because of the situation, but added that his team’s duty is to do their best and try to win.

Appointed as Pep Guardiola’s successor in June, Maresca has won each of his first five Premier League matches in charge. He could become the fourth manager to win his first six games of a spell at a club in the competition. He also confirmed Erling Haaland is ready to face Liverpool after his international-break efforts for Norway in Marbella.