Pep Guardiola has suggested that Aleksander Ceferin should know not to judge Manchester City after the UEFA president claimed Europe's governing body was right to exclude the club from European competitions in 2020.
City were suspended in February 2020 for what UEFA called “serious breaches” of Financial Fair Play rules.
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It was eventually overturned in June 2020 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, although Ceferin, a former lawyer, said UEFA “knows we are right.”
His comments, given in an interview with The Telegraph, come as City also fights accusations from the Premier League that the club is breaching its own financial rules.
“As a lawyer and president of UEFA, he should wait and then do what he wants,” Guardiola said, asked about Ceferin's comments.
“He has to respect it and wait. He has a lot of work to do at UEFA. A lawyer must respect the procedure and understand that we have the right to defend ourselves.”
Meanwhile, Guardiola says he hopes Kalvin Phillips gets the playing time “he deserves” at West Ham as his loan move to the London Stadium approaches.
Phillips will move on until the end of the season after being limited to just two Premier League starts in 18 months at City.
“The club tells me that it is not done yet but he traveled [to London] “He's going to be loaned out for six months and I hope he can play the minutes he deserves and that I couldn't give him.
“I wish you [well]. I said it many times, an exceptional human being and a footballer, otherwise he would not be in the national team. Hopefully I can improve who he is.”
Guardiola will be without Erling Haaland for City's trip to Tottenham in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday, but John Stones is in line to return.
“He [Haaland] is about to return,” Guardiola said. “Tomorrow [against Tottenham] It's not ready but it's close. “The training camp was good, he trained some sessions, the last few days there he trained, but it is not perfect and we will wait a little longer.”
