Manchester City told to 'read the room' for post shared immediately after being found guilty of 114 charges

Manchester City's social media team has come under fire for sharing a celebratory post shortly after the club was reportedly charged with more than 100 rule breaches.

The Blues apparent attempt to try and draw attention away from the Premier League scandal on Friday (25 September) backfired, as football fans were quick to call the team out online.

Enzo Maresca's side have been found guilty of a whopping 114 charges after being accused of breaking a myriad of financial rules, reports claim - and the club could now face a number of brutal punishments.

Despite Manchester City insisting the investigation into the club's alleged wrongdoing 'remains ongoing', fans from rival teams have been revelling in the Citizens current turmoil.

The probe into the club breaking financial fair play rules was originally launched back in 2018 and has now apparently come to a head. Man City are expected to appeal the decision.

The Premier League laid the charges - which Man City have always vehemently denied - out against them in February 2023, before a lengthy waiting period ensued.

The club have reportedly been found guilty of dozens of rule violations, including failing to provide accurate financial information and details of payments to players and coaches, as well as breaching the UEFA’s financial fair play (FFP) regulations and the league’s own profitability and sustainability rules (PSR).

This is all alleged to have taken place over nine-years, from 2009 to 2018. The side have won the Premier League three times during this period.

The Abu Dhabi United Group took over Man City in 2008, injecting billions in cashflow.

A Man City spokesperson told The Athletic in regards to the reports that emerged on Friday: "The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality.

"As such Manchester City FC’s position remains consistent with the club’s statement of February 2023.

"The club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis the Premier League board and executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair minded regulator, free from partisan influence."

While football fans were sinking their teeth into this bombshell update, Man City's social media team apparently decided to try and shift the spotlight onto their successes, instead.

Around an hour after the news first broke, the club shared a post on X which praised Rayan Cherki's prowess on the pitch during his debut season.

'Admin read the room'

Sharing a clip of the 23-year-old midfielder's impressive goals and assists, Man City captioned the post: "A flying start to the season."

This apparent attempt to ignore the elephant in the room didn't go down too well with a number of sports fans, as demonstrated by dozens of responses.

One person joked: "A flying start to the season…and possibly a flying start to the exit door. Keep it up, lads."

A second said: "Admin read the room."

A third wrote: "Nah, don’t run away from what’s happening."

A fourth chimed in saying: "Bro they are saying you'll be relegated to Division 2 and your posting confidently."

And a fifth commented: "Not worried about your 115 charges? You definitely getting booted!!!"

There are a number of different punishments that the Premier League could inflict on Man City, including an unlimited fine, the deduction of points and even expulsion from the league.

Man City's X account followed the Cherki post up with another which celebrated the five goals that Erling Haaland has made during his four appearances so far, earning him 'Player of the Month' for September.

As you can imagine, this was met by a similar response to the one that the initial post received.

The club's former manager Pep Guardiola fiercely defended Man City after the charges were announced in 2023 and told reporters at the time: "We are lucky we live in a marvellous country where everyone is innocent until proven guilty. We didn't have this opportunity, we are already sentenced. I am fully convinced we will be [proven] innocent."

The charges in full can be seen below:

• Failure to provide accurate and up-to-date financial information from 2009/10 to and including 2017/18 - 54 alleged breaches
• Failure to co-operate with Premier League investigations from December 2018 - present [February 2023] - 35 alleged breaches
• Failure to provide accurate financial reports for player and manager compensation from 2009/10 to and including 2017/18 - 14 alleged breaches
• Breaches of Premier League profitability and sustainability regulations from 2015/16 to and including 2017/18 - 7 alleged breaches
• Failure to comply with UEFA's regulations, including UEFA's Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations - 5 alleged breaches