India, Oct. 1 -- Pep Guardiola has shown emphatic support for Manchester City's ownership and senior hierarchy after the club was found guilty of breaches of the Premier League's financial regulations by an independent commission. The ruling was a major blow to City, as they were found to have used "sham contracts" to disguise secret funding amounting to about £830 million with their commercial partners during the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.

City were found guilty of all charges linked to the financial regulations, and of all but one charge concerning their failure to cooperate with the league's investigation. However, the eight-time Premier League champions rejected the commission's findings and denied any wrongdoing. The club mai...