Pochettino says ‘impossible to turn back time’ after Manchester City reportedly found guilty of financial breaches

Mauricio Pochettino is currently the head coach of the U.S. men’s national football team. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

The U.S. men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino expressed disappointment at the reports of Manchester City breaching financial rules, stating that the entire situation “has done a lot of damage.”

According to reports in the past few days, City has been found guilty by an independent panel of all but one of 115 alleged breaches of the Premier ‌League’s financial rules.

The former Tottenham Hotspur manager told reporters on Monday that whatever the punishment was for City, “it is impossible to turn back time.”

“At the end of the ​day, many clubs followed ‌the rules, and some didn’t... What are they going to do? An economic punishment? Docking points? It’s really hard. It’s sad. At the end of ‌the day, we went through something where sporting ​fairness didn’t exist ... If it’s true all of the 114 rules that were broken, ⁠we’ve lived through a period of deception,” he said.

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Earlier this month, Pochettino said Chelsea should be stripped of its Premier League 2016-17 title following its record fine for rule breaches this year. He added that the trophy should be handed to Tottenham, which finished second that season.

He referred to Tottenham’s lack of transfer activity for a spell during his tenure due to the financial constraints while building a new stadium and said, “I think we were the only team in the history of the Premier League with ⁠18 months without (making a transfer).”

“They were so ⁠strict with us but also so lenient with others. Because of that, that’s why I ‌say, it’s all very strange,” he added.