Haaland calls for unity in first comments after the Man City guilty verdict

Erling Haaland called on everyone at Manchester City to “stick together” in his first public comments since the club was found guilty of large-scale financial rule-breaking in the Premier League.

City will play Liverpool on Sunday in its first match since the publication of an investigatory panel’s verdict that City artificially inflated its revenue by more than $1 billion from 2009-18 to circumvent financial fair-play rules that restricted rival clubs in that period.

City was found guilty by the panel of all 80 of the serious financial charges brought by the Premier League and could be hit with severe sanctions — including being expelled from the top flight. City has lodged an appeal against the findings.

In an interview with Sky Sports published Thursday, Haaland — City's most high-profile player — said: “We have to stick together and we have to spread the love to each other. So yeah, stick together, enjoy the ride and smile.”

Asked what his message would be to City fans traveling to Anfield, where a potentially hostile reception awaits the team, Haaland said: “We have to stick together, we have to stay with each other and we have to stay positive.

“No matter what happens in life, we have always have to have a smile. So we have to stay positive, look ahead and try to win football games and then try to enjoy the situation and the game.”

City manager Enzo Maresca is likely to face more severe questioning Friday when he holds his pre-match news conference with reporters. It will be Maresca's first remarks on the scandal, with domestic soccer having been on hold for the past three weeks because of an extended international break.

The return of the Premier League offers rival team coaches a first opportunity to react to the City case that has rocked the world’s most popular soccer league and is likely to have a major impact on the remainder of the season.

They weren't rushing to judgment on Thursday.

“We’ve all seen the news. It’s obviously big news,” said Frank Lampard, the Coventry manager who played for City for one of the seasons — 2014-15 — that has been under investigation.

“Man City are appealing the situation so I guess my reaction is that: what can you say when an appeal is going on? I’m not inside the story, I’m outside it completely — I played for Man City a long time ago, for one year — so we’ll wait and see what the result of the appeal is.”

Bournemouth manager Marco Rose preferred to stay away from the matter, saying: “I’m a football coach, not a politician,” while Newcastle manager Matthias Jaissle said he was “not able to judge” as a manager of another club and “there are authorities taking care of it.”

In a similar vein, Leeds manager Daniel Farke said there were “more qualified people ... able to speak about it.”

Speaking at the Leaders in Sport conference in London, Leeds chairman Paraag Marathe – president of the club’s U.S.-ownership group, 49ers Enterprises – said he believed “the most just result, I’m sure, will be delivered.”

“In any sport, you know, everybody wants to play by the same rules,” he added, without mentioning City.

See AP’s full soccer coverage here