Mauricio Pochettino has described Manchester City’s prolonged period of success as “a period of deception” following reports that the club were found guilty of breaching the Premier League’s financial regulations.
City are reportedly guilty of violating the vast majority of the 115 charges brought against them.
The decision, which was reached by an independent commission, was widely reported on Friday, although the Premier League has yet to make an official announcement.
Manchester City have strongly denied the allegations, while club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said on Saturday that he remains confident the club will prove its innocence.
City have enjoyed considerable success since their Abu Dhabi-based owners took over in 2008, winning numerous trophies, including the Premier League and Champions League.
Pochettino spent seven years managing in the Premier League, taking charge of Southampton, Tottenham and Chelsea, before becoming United States head coach.
The Argentine believes a guilty verdict would have caused significant damage not only to Manchester City but also to the Premier League as a whole.
“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 the period from the 2009-10 season through to 2017-18. City are also accused of failing to cooperate with Premier League investigations between December 2018 and February 2023.
The club are expected to appeal any punishment eventually imposed, although the sanction has yet to be announced. Possible penalties could include a points deduction, expulsion from the Premier League or a substantial fine.
There have also been calls for City to be stripped of Premier League titles they have won since 2008.
Pochettino recently argued that Chelsea should lose the 2016-17 Premier League title after the club were found guilty of historical rule breaches, with the Argentine saying the trophy should instead be awarded to his former Tottenham side, who finished runners-up that season.
However, Pochettino admitted that he was unsure what would constitute an appropriate punishment for Manchester 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 economic possibility of 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.”
