Manchester City have been fined £3 million by the Premier League over the last two seasons for delaying kick-offs to 30 matches after half-time. The club were forced to pay £2m at the end of the 2023-24 campaign and £1m last term for taking too long to emerge after the break following Pep Guardiola's lengthy team talks. The coach has also been warned about holding press conferences too late in the day.
City late for 30 matches after half-time
has reported that 22 of City's 38 Premier League games in 2023-24 were delayed City, with eight of their matches in 2024-25 falling foul of the league's guidelines on half-time breaks. The league states that kicking off on time helps "ensure the organisation of the competition is set at the highest possible professional standard" as well as assisting broadcasters.
Guardiola, however, was unapologetic about the delays and said that musicians performing at matches such as the Champions League should be fined when causing a delay to kick off, as happened when Burna Boy appeared before City met Inter in the 2023 final in Istanbul. He also said that the Premier League's rules on press conferences led to him holding his latest briefing ahead of the next match against Newcastle on Friday at 9am.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesGuardiola: We paid a lot of money!
Guardiola told a press conference: "We paid a lot of money as I’m late at half-time, but when we played in the Champions League final they had a show before the game and they are always late. They have to fine the singers! That is why I decided 9am and the journalists have had their breakfast and will need to take a coffee. I arrive one minute later but the rules are the rules. We are training later and if we train at 12 until 1.30, I cannot be here [at the press conference] in time. The Premier League don’t allow me at 2pm. The club said if I don’t start by 2pm they will fine me or fine the club."
Guardiola congratulates Haaland on World Cup qualification
Guardiola extended his congratulations to Erling Haaland after Norway secured qualification for the 2026 World Cup, their first time reaching the tournament since 1998. "He’s incredible this season, he’s breaking all the records, personal and individual records, Premier League records, for Norway," Guardiola said. "Happy for him, his national team, many of the squad for Norway weren’t even born the last time Norway were in the World Cup. For the country it’s incredible, an incredible qualification scoring a lot of goals. As a football player, world-class player, he deserves to play a World Cup and live the experience. I’m so happy for him."
Getty Haaland can hit 100 PL goals on Shearer's turf
Haaland scored his 99th Premier League goal in City's last game against Liverpool and he can hit his century of goals in England's top flight against Newcastle on Saturday at St James' Park. Haaland is being tipped to go on and beat Magpies' legend Alan Shearer as the league's all-time top scorer if he sees out his 10-year contract with City. Guardiola – who declared his admiration for Shearer's goal tally for Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle – believes he has a good chance of toppling the former England striker.
He said: "His [Shearer’s] quality to score goals in big teams. He won the Premier League, but not in the teams that everybody knows. The guys who have been making numbers for a long time, not just one or two seasons, I always admire them because it means resilience and being there every season.
"They don’t score goals for one season. They do it over a lot of seasons and that means being incredibly focused, professional and you have to love the game. For Erling to be there with Alan Shearer is really good for both of them. You don’t have to know mathematics to realise that if he [Haaland] stays a long, long time and continues this average, he will be close to Harry Kane and close to Alan Shearer."