Manchester City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak launches scathing attack on La Liga chief

Khaldoon al Mubrarak, the chairman of Manchester City, has launched a scathing attack on the head of La Liga for suggesting that the Premier League champions are the “play-things of a state”.

Javier Tebas last week claimed that clubs such as City and Paris Saint-Germain, backed by wealthy Gulf state owners, are creating a competitive imbalance in European football which will change the face of the sport.

A vociferous opponent of any prospective European Super League, Tebas believes the domestic dominance of City and PSG - both champions in their respective home nations this season - is hastening attempts at a breakaway from the current structure.

City were subject to a takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008 and owner Sheikh Mansour is the half-brother of Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates.

The club’s ownership and financial structure has come under increased scrutiny of late, with City facing the prospect of expulsion from the Champions League after Uefa escalated an investigation into allegations that they violated Financial Fair Play regulations.

Three other football authorities - Fifa, the Premier League and the Football Association - are also separately investigating City on matters of financial compliance, third-party ownership and the signing of young players. City have denied any and all wrongdoing.

Now, in an in-house end-of-season interview, Al-Mubarak has said that City are fully confident their name will be cleared, and he has hit back at the criticisms of Tebas and others.

After Tebas described City and PSG as “state-run clubs: one of petrol-money, one of gas,” Al Mubarak accused La Liga’s chief of grouping the clubs together on grounds of “ethnicity” and suggested that he discuss “facts”.

“I think there’s something deeply wrong in bringing ethnicity into the conversation. This is just ugly,” the City chairman said. “I think the way he is combining teams because of ethnicity. I find that very disturbing to be honest.

“[Tebas] talks about how we distorted the market? There is a hypocrisy in this statement that is ironic,” Al Mubarak added. “Number one, let’s look at the Spanish league, the time of breaking records on player acquisitions, I mean, who started that? Let’s go back to the world records, [Luis] Figo, [Zinedine] Zidane. These huge jumps in these transfers, where did they happen?

“You know, the history, you have to look back at the history of La Liga, a league dominated by two clubs and Mr Tebas should look back at the history of that league and how distortion that has happened throughout the ages.

“And then you look back at transfers. In the top ten transfers of all time, Manchester City has not a single player in that, not a single one. So I don’t really take it seriously and I ask our fans to always put it in context.

“Always look at facts. And I think people with glass homes shouldn’t be throwing rocks. I’m happy to talk to anyone as long as the conversation is about facts but once we start talking about innuendo and talking about theories I have no time for that.”

Al Mubarak called upon City’s fellow Premier League clubs to defend themselves, as he claimed that Tebas’ criticisms were an attack on not just City but the entire English top-flight.

“We have the best league in the world, we have the most commercial league in the world, the most successful clubs in the world, economically, commercially in terms of global presence, and that’s why this attack is not just on Manchester City, it’s against this league.

“And I hope people start seeing that and start... I know people don’t want to defend Manchester City - but for God’s sake start defending this league.”

On the investigations currently open at Uefa, Fifa, the Premier League and the FA, Al Mubarak returned to the importance of “facts” and insisted that City will co-operate fully

“Am I uncomfortable? No. I respect regulatory bodies doing their job and any regulatory process that asks questions.

“We have to professionally respond which is what we have done. We are dealing with each of these entities as per the process, we have clear answers.

“I believe, quite comfortably, if the process is going to be judged on facts then unquestionably we will prevail. If it’s not about facts and it’s about other things, then it is a different conversation. But I strongly hope that these regulatory bodies will ultimately make the decision based on facts.

“We are going through the appropriate steps and we’re confident in our position, very comfortable in our position. I’m not concerned about that because facts will prevail.”