Wayne Rooney Man City titles

Roy Keane: Man City Medals Belong in the Bin After Verdict


 Roy Keane has said that if he were a Manchester City player, he would throw his medals in the bin after the club was found guilty of breaking the Premier League's financial rules.

The Premier League confirmed on Tuesday that City were found guilty on every charge relating to the rules, covering a nine-year period from 2009 to 2018. The league said the club used "sham" deals with commercial partners to secretly direct over £830m into its football operations.

City, who still deny any wrongdoing, won eight trophies in that period, including three Premier League titles.

The former Manchester United captain told ITV Sport, ahead of England's game with the Czech Republic, that he would "100%" get rid of the medals. He argued that the players' achievements no longer count because of the cheating behind them, and rejected the idea that City won on the pitch, saying the cheating was going on while they were winning.

Keane also criticised the club's leadership, saying they knew how many people the scheme would hurt and went ahead with it anyway.

His former United team-mate Wayne Rooney has taken a different view on what should happen if City are stripped of titles. Speaking on the Stick to United podcast, Rooney said United should not be handed any of those titles in their place.

Rooney was in the United side that finished second to City in 2011-12. He said he would feel uncomfortable accepting a Premier League medal for that season, because United did not do enough to earn it and did not finish top.

He also sympathised with the City players, saying they gave everything to win the league and believed they had done so. Rooney added that if the same happened to him and his United medals were taken away, he would be devastated.

No sanctions have been announced yet, and City plan to appeal against the ruling. Losing top-flight titles is one possible punishment. City have won the Premier League eight times since Sheikh Mansour's takeover in 2009, three of them inside the period covered by the charges.

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