Manager Maresca says he has complete trust in Man City despite bombshell verdict

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Enzo Maresca came out in defense of Manchester City's ownership on Friday, despite the club being found guilty of breaking the Premier League's financial rules in the biggest scandal in the competition's history.

The manager Maresca said he had complete trust in City's hierarchy, and dismissed suggestions the club's unprecedented dominance of English soccer had been tainted by the bombshell verdict that it had artificially inflated its revenue by more than $1 billion to help sign some of soccer’s biggest stars.

“I completely trust the club in this moment, in the future, always,” Maresca said in his first news conference since the findings of an independent panel were published last week.

“The reason why I joined this club is because I completely trust 100% the owner, the CEO, the sports director, all the organization, so I don’t have any doubt about that.”

Maresca was speaking ahead of City's Premier League match with Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.

Unsurprisingly the focus was on the verdict, which found the United Arab Emirates-backed team committed almost all of the 115-plus violations it was accused of during a period in which City changed the landscape of the world’s most popular soccer league.

City has always denied the charges and has lodged an appeal.

“I would like to speak about this situation when we’re going to win the appeal,” Maresca said.

Asked if the verdict tarnished City's success over more than a decade of dominance, Maresca replied, “Absolutely not.”

Maresca was hired at the end of last season when former manager Pep Guardiola stepped down after a trophy-laden 10-year tenure.

He had previously worked as Guardiola's assistant during the 2023 treble-winning season.

Asked if he still would have taken the job had the verdict come out before he became manager, Maresca replied, “100%.”

“I know the organization from years ago and I know how serious they are. I know that they do the right things,” he said.

“I trust the club because I trust the people, and this is also the reason why I joined the club. And then there is not another club in the world where I would like to be, so I’m very happy to be here.”

Maresca's immediate job is to focus the players' minds ahead of the trip to Anfield.

“We completely understand the seriousness of the situation. I’m not saying that we don’t understand that. We understand, the players understand. But it’s our duty, our job, to try to control the noise,” he said. “

“For me and for the players, we can control just the pitch side, the field side. So we are focused on that, and this is what we can do and we can control.”

Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany, who played for City from 2012-19, has offered guarded support for the club's achievements at the time while also distancing himself from the controversy.

Kompany said Friday he was “100% focused” on Bayern and that didn't leave him time “to dwell on other things.”

“But for me, it’s actually quite simple – I played there for 11 years, and I stand fully behind what we achieved on the field and the feeling we shared as a group of players during that time." he said. “Everything else, I have to be honest, it feels a bit far removed from my reality at the moment.”

AP Sports Writer Ciarán Fahey contributed from Berlin.

James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

See AP’s full soccer coverage here

FILE - Manchester City fans wave the team's flag prior to the League Cup soccer match final between Aston Villa and Manchester City, at Wembley stadium, in London, England, Sunday, March 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Ian Walton, File)

FILE - Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola lifts the English Premier League trophy after the English Premier League soccer match between Brighton and Manchester City at the AMEX Stadium in Brighton, England, Sunday, May 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

FILE - Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak gestures prior to the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Inter Milan in Manchester, England, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson, File)

A general view of a billboard featuring a Paddy Power advert that reads 'Shamchester', in Manchester, England, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

NEW DELHI (AP) — Authorities stepped up security in the Indian capital on Friday and announced transport restrictions ahead of a planned demonstration by India’s “Cockroach” movement, seeking to limit access to a growing campaign against a contentious revision of voter lists that has led to nationwide protests.

Thousands of protesters are expected to gather at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar protest venue Saturday as the movement against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and the country’s election authorities intensifies. The protesters, joined by opposition parties, are demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing the poll body he heads of manipulating voter lists through the revision.

Indian Railways said it canceled several trains serving two New Delhi stations for Saturday, while the Delhi Metro announced the closure of 57 stations. The restrictions could hinder access to the protest site for supporters of the “Cockroach” movement, many of them students who have relied on trains and the metro to reach demonstrations.

India’s Supreme Court directed authorities to reconsider the restrictions and ensure public transport services were not entirely suspended.

Local media reported that at least 23,000 police personnel had been deployed across the capital ahead of the protest. Police say the measures are intended to maintain law and order and prevent disruptions to public movement.

The protests center on a nationwide review of voter lists known as the Special Intensive Revision, which has been carried out in most of India’s states and federally administered territories. More than 130 million names have been removed so far. Millions of people have appealed the deletions.

Those whose names have been removed can appeal, but critics say the process can be difficult, particularly for people who lack older government records or other required documents.

Opposition parties say the removals have disproportionately affected their supporters and people from minority groups, while voters more likely to support Modi’s Hindu nationalist ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have been retained or added to the lists. The Election Commission and the government reject the allegations, saying the exercise lacks any political motive and is intended to remove duplicate and ineligible entries.

The demonstrations have been led in part by the “Cockroach” movement, which began as an online youth campaign in May before expanding into street protests. Its earlier demonstrations, sit-ins and hunger strikes over exam paper leaks forced Modi’s education minister to resign in July.

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has also emerged as a prominent figure in the campaign. Police briefly detained him twice during protests in New Delhi this week.

Ahead of the protest, student groups and activists accused police of detaining some protesters traveling to the capital. Local media reported that officers had also visited some mosques in the capital and urged religious leaders to discourage people from attending the demonstration.

Abhijeet Dipke, the “Cockroach” movement’s leader, said Friday that protesters would proceed despite detentions and restrictions.

“This intimidation is not going to work, Modi,” Dipke said in a post on X. “The youth of this country are no longer scared of you.”

A motorcyclist drives past security personnel guarding as members of the student wing of India's Congress party and other protesters march demanding the resignation of the country's election chief Gyanesh Kumar, in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Security personnel keep vigil from the rooftop of a building as members of the student wing of India's Congress party and other protesters gather to start a march demanding the resignation of the country's election chief Gyanesh Kumar, in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)