Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano has hit out at his club's two-year ban from UEFA competitions, saying that the allegations made against his club are politically-motivated and untrue.
UEFA had adjudged that the club had committed "serious breaches of their Financial Fair Play regulations and issued City a $32 million fine and a two-year ban from European competition.
City immediately issued a counter-statement, denying any wrongdoing, and stated their intention to appeal UEFA's decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Now the club's most senior executive Soriano has spoken for the first time about the situation in an interview with the club's official website.
"Well, the most important thing I have to say today is that the allegations are not true. They are simply not true," he said.
"We provided the evidence but in the end, this FFP Investigatory Chamber relied more on out-of-context stolen emails than all the other evidence we provided of what actually happened and I think it is normal that we feel like we feel.
"Ultimately based on our experience and our perception, this seems to be less about justice and more about politics."
UEFA's punishment stems from the allegation that City misreported their sponsorship deals in order to fulfill FFP regulations. But Soriano said that the club's financial reporting was fair and correct.
"The owner has not put money in this club that has not been properly declared," he said.
"We are a sustainable football club, we are profitable, we don't have debt, our accounts have been scrutinized many times, by auditors, by regulators, by investors and this is perfectly clear.
"We are looking for an early resolution obviously through a thorough process and a fair process so my best hope is that this will be finished before the beginning of the summer and until then for us, it is business as usual."
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