Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has echoed the sentiments of his former teammate Wayne Rooney regarding Manchester City’s title dilemma.
Rooney’s verdict
On Tuesday, the Premier League released a scathing statement, confirming that City have been found guilty of all charges related to “serious breaches” of financial rules.
City’s breaches covered a nine-season period in which they rose to become one of world football’s most dominant and powerful teams.
An independent commission found that Enzo Maresca’s side had arranged “sham” contracts which significantly misrepresented the true agreement between partners. These arrangements, conducted with commercial partners, served to inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs, thereby enabling it to spend more than its rivals.
During the alleged period, City overstated their income by in excess of £830 million. This constituted a key overarching feature of the charges, with the club presenting its financial position as far stronger than was in fact the case.
The Premier League noted that the “issue of sanctions will be addressed separately in a further hearing with the independent commission.” City, who maintain their innocence despite the considerable loss of face, insist that they will lodge an appeal.
One proposed sanction would see City stripped of titles, with those honours then passed to the runners-up. United would, for example, receive two extra trophies for 2011/12 and the campaign in which they finished second under Jose Mourinho.
This prospect has delighted some within the fanbase, as well as a section of ex-players including Rio Ferdinand, David de Gea and Juan Mata. However, Wayne Rooney made it clear that he would not be comfortable with such an outcome.
Now, Scholes has taken the same view as Rooney.
Scholes’ remarks
Scholes said on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, “As far as getting medals and taking trophies off the, there’s no really precedent been set for this, has it?”
When told that you cannot do that, Scholes retorted, “Of course, you can. It happened to Juventus..”
He added, “If you cheated, you have got to have serious punishment.” “No, no, I am saying that (they should give the trophies to the runners-ups), I am not saying that.”
“I am not saying that I won a medal, do you know what I mean? There would still be something wrong about that.”
United are next in action on 10 October when they host Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford.
Featured image Richard Heathcote via Getty Images
