Roy Keane says Manchester City medals belong ‘in the bin’ after financial ruling

Roy Keane says he would put any medals won by Manchester City during the period covered by the Premier League’s financial ruling “in the bin”, describing the alleged conduct as cheating.

The Premier League said on Tuesday that Manchester City had been found to have inflated the club’s commercial revenues by £830m ($1.08bn) between 2009 and 2018.

Richard Masters, the Premier League’s chief executive, said the club had “systematically breached the Premier League rules for almost a full decade”.

Keane, the former Manchester United captain and a club legend, said he would not want to keep any honours he might have earned as a Manchester City player during that period.

“If I was a player, I’d put those medals 100% in the bin,” Keane told ITV Sport. “Of course I would. That’s cheating.”

He added: “They won them on the pitch because cheating was going on.

“They knew it would hurt a lot of people and they did it anyway.”

Manchester City denies any wrongdoing and said it was “surprised” by the decision. The club has until Friday, 2 October to appeal against the ruling.

During the period from 2009 to 2018, Manchester City won three Premier League titles, one FA Cup and three League Cup trophies.

The club’s chief executive, Ferran Soriano, said in a recorded message to staff that the decision was the result of a “conspiracy theory by the Premier League”.

“This has gone on for a long time, so it is important to remind ourselves that the whole of the Premier League’s case against us is based on one false allegation,” he said.

“That the owner’s personal money was somehow secretly channelled into the club through some Abu Dhabi sponsors.”

Manchester City has rejected the Premier League’s findings, while the appeal deadline gives the club until 2 October to formally challenge the ruling.

Keane’s comments focus on the sporting consequences of the alleged financial breaches, questioning the value of the medals won by Manchester City during the years covered by the case. The club’s success in that period included three Premier League championships, an FA Cup and three League Cups.