Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards says he felt “absolutely devastated” after reading the Premier League’s “damning” guilty verdict over the club’s financial charges. An independent commission found City arranged “false contracts” with several business partners as part of a scheme to disguise secret funding of more than £830m. The league confirmed that City have been found guilty of all charges relating to breaches of financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18. seasons, and all but one related to failure to cooperate with the investigation. The club continues to deny any wrongdoing and has until October 2 to lodge an appeal. During that nine-year period, the Sky Blues won the Premier League three times, with Richards part of their title-winning team in 2011-12. “The reports were worrying,” he said on The Rest is Football podcast. “I saw the words used by the Premier League in ‘fake contracts’ and I was absolutely devastated.” I was in that club since I was 14, I would die for that club. I achieved my dream at Manchester City, but then to hear these reports, and not just to me as a former player, but to the fans, what they have to go through is absolutely devastating.” While Richards was part of City’s youth academy, he was living in an ‘ex-player’ with a local family who are long-time supporters of the club. I have no answers to tell you. “He is someone who has supported the club for over 60 years and the uncertainty surrounding him is just heartbreaking.” To have a headline of this nature for a club I love so much, it has been difficult. If you listen to the reports, they are damning. “It saddens me, it makes me angry, I feel a little confused because, on the other hand, there is City’s side of the story.” City president Khaldoon Al Mubarak said in a statement on Saturday that the club is still confident of proving his innocence, while on Tuesday chief executive Ferran Soriano claimed in a video message, external to staff and players, that the commission had “ignored” “irrefutable evidence.”
