Hull owner Ilıcalı calls Man City charges 'financial doping' as verdict looms

Hull City owner Acun Ilıcalı has compared Manchester City’s alleged financial rule-breaking to doping in sport, saying that if City are found guilty of the Premier League charges against them, it would be the equivalent of winning an Olympic medal through banned substances.

The comments come after reports leaked on Friday that City are expected to be found guilty of the majority of the 115 charges levied against them by the Premier League, though no official verdict has been communicated. City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak responded with a statement on Saturday reaffirming the club’s innocence and signalling that an appeal would follow any guilty finding.

“If there is a certain mistake, this mistake is not a mistake like I do it and I can appeal it,” Ilıcalı said on the 1904 Club podcast. “If there is a mistake like this, this kind of mistakes give crazy advantages to some teams and it’s not fair. Their chairman says they are innocent. I don’t say they are guilty or not because they are saying they are innocent, and the Premier League says they are not innocent. If they are not innocent, I think it is no different to doping and winning an Olympic medal. This is financial doping at the end of the day.”

Ilıcalı, whose Hull side won promotion to the Premier League through the play-offs last season, was careful to frame his remarks as general principle rather than a direct accusation, acknowledging he does not have full knowledge of the case’s detail. But he was unambiguous about what he believes the consequences should be if wrongdoing is established.

“If you give a small punishment, then everybody will do it,” he said. “For the future of football, and for it to be a clean future, this kind of thing if it happens, should be punished and not let people do something like that.”

The Hull owner also touched on the competitive imbalance he feels clubs like his already face, arguing that any financial rule-breaking only widens a gap that is already significant. “We will not have the budget of a top six or top 10 teams in England, but we respect that,” he said. “We have enough distance because of the income they have naturally — please don’t add more distance from some more money and make the distance higher and higher.”

The verdict, when officially announced, is expected to trigger widespread consequences across English football. Speculation has centred on potential punishments ranging from points deductions to relegation, as well as the possibility of other clubs seeking compensation for financial losses suffered during the period covered by the charges.