Kane brushes off Man City guilty verdict as England focus shifts to Croatia

Harry Kane admitted he was unaware of Manchester City’s guilty verdict until after England’s 2-0 Nations League win over Czechia in Prague on Tuesday, saying the dressing room’s focus remained entirely on football rather than the seismic off-field ruling.

The Premier League confirmed earlier that day that an independent commission had found City guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought against them for breaches of financial rules. The club strongly deny the findings and intend to appeal, with potential punishments ranging from a heavy points deduction to expulsion from the top flight.

“To be honest, today I didn’t even know the news literally until after the game,” Kane, who scored England’s second goal, told reporters. “I’ve been off my phone all day. I can’t comment on it now. I’m sure in the next days it will be spoken about in a casual way. I always say when we’re here we’re with England — we have our England head on.”

Three City players are currently with the England squad: Marc Guehi, Elliot Anderson and Nico O’Reilly. Guehi and Anderson both started against Czechia, while O’Reilly missed the match through injury. Kane was clear that the trio would deal with the fallout on their return to club football. “Those guys will deal with it obviously when they are back. From our point of view it is all about Croatia on Saturday.”

England manager Thomas Tuchel echoed that position when asked whether he had needed to manage the City players’ wellbeing in the wake of the verdict. “I did not actually, because I am just focused on everything we have to deal with here and to prepare the team,” Tuchel said. “I did not talk to them about the issue and I will not comment on it.”

Tuchel was quick to praise both City men who featured against Czechia. “Marc today was absolutely excellent after a tough match against Spain — the reaction was on the highest level. And Elliot Anderson had a good match as well.”

The Premier League’s statement, released hours before kick-off in Prague, alleged that City had arranged “sham” commercial deals with a number of sponsors as part of a disguised funding scheme, with Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG) — the club’s owner — covering portions of sponsorship fees that City recorded as independent income. The commission also found that further arrangements were used to lower the club’s reported operating expenses, and that a circular scheme involving an entity called Fordham, which purchased players’ image rights, had been constructed artificially.

City’s appeal process is expected to be lengthy, meaning the club’s final punishment, if the verdict stands, remains some way off.