Rodri backs Manchester City after reports of financial-rules verdict

Rodri has defended Manchester City's achievements and maintained his belief in his former club's innocence following reports that they were found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules. Speaking at Wembley on Friday before Spain's Nations League match against England, the Barcelona midfielder said the work behind City's success should not be diminished, according to reporting by the Guardian and BBC Sport.

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The Guardian reported that multiple outlets said City had been found guilty on all but one of the 115 charges brought by the Premier League in February 2023. BBC Sport reported findings against the club on the majority of the charges and said City were set to appeal. City have consistently denied wrongdoing, while a club spokesperson told the Guardian that significant parts of the legal case still had to be completed.

Rodri, who left City for Barcelona in August according to the BBC, pointed to the club's separate dispute with Uefa in 2020 as a reason for retaining confidence. City successfully challenged a two-year exclusion from European competition at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. He acknowledged that the accusations in that earlier case were different, while drawing a comparison with the experience of initially receiving an adverse decision and then appealing.

The midfielder also argued that the achievements of the players and staff reflected their daily effort together. In comments reported by the Guardian, he credited not only Pep Guardiola and the squad but people throughout the club. His defence centred on the relationships and work involved in winning trophies, rather than any detailed response to the individual financial charges.

Asked about the implications for City's successes, Rodri maintained that those achievements were deserved. He said club officials had repeatedly expressed confidence that they had done nothing wrong and that he continued to believe them. He also supported the principle that every team must comply with football's rules.

His remarks came with City's response to the reported findings still developing. The BBC's report of an intended appeal and the club's statement that important legal steps remained unfinished leave the eventual outcome unresolved. Rodri's intervention set out his support for his former employers; it did not announce a sanction or a completed appeal decision.