Guardiola Vows Support, Richards ‘Devastated’ After City Guilty Verdict

Pep Guardiola publicly pledged his continued loyalty to Manchester City on September 30, 2026, declaring “we will get through this together” after the Premier League’s independent commission found the club guilty of 114 of 115 charges tied to financial rule breaches between 2009 and 2018. The former City manager’s statement came as ex-City defender Micah Richards said he felt “absolutely devastated” after reading what he called the commission’s “damning” verdict, according to comments reported by the BBC.

Guardiola, who left City at the end of last season after eleven years in charge, posted his message on social media less than 24 hours after the Premier League confirmed the outcome of the long-running case, which centered on allegations that City arranged “sham” sponsorship deals to inflate revenue and understate costs by more than £900 million across nearly a decade, as reported by the verdict coverage carried by HeadTopics.

Direct Answer: What Guardiola and Richards Said, and Why It Matters

Guardiola, who oversaw six Premier League titles during his City tenure, used his statement to reaffirm loyalty to the club, its ownership and its fans rather than comment on the substance of the charges. Richards, who came through City’s academy and captained the side before later becoming a prominent BBC and podcast pundit, offered a markedly more emotional response, describing specific findings in the verdict — including references to what he called “sham contracts” — as personally upsetting given his boyhood connection to the club. Together, the two reactions mark the first wave of direct, on-record responses from prominent City-linked figures since the Premier League announced the guilty verdict on or around September 29, 2026.

Who, What, When, Where, Why

• Who: Pep Guardiola, Manchester City’s former manager, and Micah Richards, a former City defender and current BBC pundit.
• What: Guardiola posted a public message of support for the club; Richards said he was “absolutely devastated” by the Premier League’s guilty verdict.
• When: Guardiola’s statement was published September 30, 2026, roughly a day after the verdict was confirmed; Richards’ comments, made on The Rest Is Football podcast, were reported the same week, with BBC coverage dated September 29-30 and October 1, 2026.
• Where: The reactions followed a ruling by an independent Premier League commission into Manchester City’s financial conduct between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.
• Why: The commission found City guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought against it, the most serious financial-regulation case in English top-flight history, prompting an outpouring of reaction from people closely associated with the club.

Guardiola’s Statement in Full Context

In his post, Guardiola wrote: “I want every single Manchester City supporter around the globe to understand that I am here; now more than ever,” according to the BBC’s report on his statement. He continued: “I am, have always been, and will forever stand by club, owner, chairman, Ferran [Soriano], the players, the staff, Enzo [Maresca], and you, our extraordinary supporters.” He closed the message with the line that has since been widely quoted across outlets covering the story: “Let me be clear: we will overcome this challenge together,” adding, “I love you all,” alongside a blue heart emoji.

The statement named specific individuals still at the club — chairman Ferran Soriano and current manager Enzo Maresca — a detail that outlets including beIN Sports and NBC News both highlighted as evidence that Guardiola was positioning his support around the club’s current leadership rather than distancing himself from the findings. Guardiola did not address the substance of the charges or comment on potential sporting sanctions in the post, according to the available reporting.

Guardiola’s intervention is notable given his position: he managed City throughout much of the period covered by the charges, from 2016 to 2026, and led the club to an unprecedented run of domestic and European success, including a Champions League title and multiple domestic trebles. His public alignment with the club immediately after the verdict adds weight to the ongoing debate — covered previously in reporting on how rival Premier League clubs want City punished this season — over whether the Premier League’s eventual sanction will be symbolic or severe.

Micah Richards: ‘There Are No Winners in This’

Richards, speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, gave the most personal reaction among the figures to comment publicly so far. “The reports were troubling,” he said, according to the BBC’s coverage of his remarks. He added that specific terminology used in the commission’s findings, including references to “sham” arrangements, left him “utterly heartbroken.” Richards, who spent his formative years in City’s academy before making more than 150 appearances for the club’s first team, said: “I was at that club since I was 14 years old, I would die for that club.”

Richards’ framing — describing the situation as one with “no winners,” a phrase picked up by Sportskeeda’s coverage of the reaction cycle — distinguishes his comments from Guardiola’s defiant tone. Where Guardiola’s statement reads as a rallying message aimed at supporters, Richards’ remarks reflect the discomfort of a boyhood fan and former player confronting findings about conduct that occurred, in part, during his own playing career at the club.

Background: What the Premier League Commission Found

The independent commission’s verdict, confirmed around September 29-30, 2026, found Manchester City guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought by the Premier League. The case centered on allegations that City misrepresented its true financial position across multiple seasons between 2009-10 and 2017-18, including through sponsorship arrangements that the league’s investigators characterized as inflating revenue figures and reducing reported costs. Coverage of the case cited a figure of more than £900 million in financial benefit allegedly obtained through the arrangements under scrutiny, as reported in the HeadTopics summary of the verdict.

The scale and duration of the case — first opened in 2018 following the Football Leaks disclosures and running through a lengthy independent hearing process — makes it, by most reporting, the most significant financial-conduct case in Premier League history. As previously reported, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said he was “really concerned” about the prospect of City’s ownership group selling the club in the aftermath of the verdict, underlining how the financial findings have implications well beyond the football pitch.

Guardiola’s Tenure and the Period Under Scrutiny

Guardiola joined Manchester City in the summer of 2016, meaning the charges relating to seasons before his arrival — 2009-10 through 2015-16 — predate his time at the club, while the final two seasons covered by the case, 2016-17 and 2017-18, fall within his first two years in charge. During his decade-long spell, City won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, and the 2023 Champions League, establishing itself as the dominant force in English football.

Guardiola left the club at the end of last season, and current manager Enzo Maresca — named specifically in Guardiola’s statement of support — has overseen the club’s response to the verdict in his first months in the role. Richards, for his part, left City in 2010 for his final move away from the club’s first-team squad before later moving into broadcasting, where he has become one of the most prominent English football pundits of his generation, including as a co-host of the Emmy-nominated podcast The Rest Is Football alongside Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer.

Table: Timeline of Reaction to the Guilty Verdict

How Other Outlets Have Framed the Reaction

NBC News, in its coverage of Guardiola’s statement, quoted an extended version of his message in which he said he stood behind “my club, my owner, my chairman, Ferran, the players, staff, Enzo and you, our unique supporters.” Fox Sports Australia characterized the post as Guardiola “throw[ing] his weight behind the club” following what it called a “bombshell verdict,” while also noting Richards’ description of the situation as “heartbreaking.”

The consistency of the direct quotes across BBC, beIN Sports, NBC News, Fox Sports Australia and Goal — all citing the same core lines from Guardiola’s post and the same “absolutely devastated” quote from Richards — indicates both statements were made publicly and picked up widely rather than reported through unnamed or single-source channels. No club statement beyond Guardiola’s personal post has been reported in connection with this specific reaction cycle, and City’s current ownership group has not been quoted directly responding to either Guardiola’s or Richards’ comments in the material reviewed.

What Remains Unresolved

As of this reporting, the Premier League has not announced what sporting sanctions, if any, will follow the guilty verdict. Points deductions, fines and other disciplinary measures remain under discussion, with rival clubs pressing for punishment to apply within the current season, a point detailed in prior coverage of club executives’ demands for sanctions. City is expected to have the option to appeal aspects of the commission’s findings, though no formal appeal had been confirmed in the sources reviewed for this article.

Limitations of This Report

This article is based on publicly reported statements from Guardiola and Richards as carried by BBC Sport, beIN Sports, NBC News, Fox Sports Australia, Goal and other outlets between September 29 and October 1, 2026. It does not include direct comment from Manchester City’s ownership, from current players, or from the Premier League itself beyond the confirmed verdict, none of which were available in the sources reviewed. Any eventual sporting sanction remains undetermined and is not reported here as fact.

What to Watch Next

• Whether the Premier League announces a specific sporting sanction, such as a points deduction or fine, and whether it would apply retroactively or to the current 2026-27 season.
• Whether Manchester City’s ownership group issues its own formal statement or pursues an appeal of the commission’s findings.
• Whether other current or former City players and staff, beyond Guardiola and Richards, offer public reactions in the coming days.
• How rival Premier League clubs’ push for sanctions, as previously reported, develops in parallel with City’s public response.

Sources

• verdict coverage carried by HeadTopics — us.headtopics.com
• beIN Sports — beinsports.com
• Pep Guardiola after Man City guilty verdict: ‘I am behind my … — global.espn.com
• ‘We will get through this together’ – Guardiola reacts as Man City guilty — bbc.co.uk
• Pep Guardiola backs Man City after guilty verdict on … — aljazeera.com

Photo: Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons