Man City excited to defend Fifa Club World Cup title, says Khaldoon Al Mubarak

Khaldoon Al Mubarak said Manchester City are excited to defend their Fifa Club World Cup title next month.

In the second part of his end-of-season review, the City chairman covered a wide-range of issues from ticket prices, the overall performance of the City Football Group and plans to build more City Football Academies.

Given their dominance over previous years, City suffered a disappointing season by their high standards, finishing third in the Premier League, 13 points behind champions Liverpool.

City ended the European and domestic season without a trophy – the first time since manager Pep Guardiola's first season in charge in 2016/17.

The club will get the chance to rectify that this summer when they take part in the expanded 32-team Fifa Club World Cup from June 14 to July 13.

City will enter as the defending champions having won the tournament the last time it was held, in 2023, a year that saw the club win five trophies.

“As the defending champions coming into this new format, of course we’re very excited. We're very excited to come in as champions," Al Mubarak told the club's media channels.

The expanded tournament will see eight groups of four battle it out before progressing to the knockout stages. City are in Group G alongside Italian giants Juventus, Morocco's Wydad, and UAE representatives Al Ain.

"The format actually, I really like it. This is a very, very serious competition. In the summer, the whole world will be watching this. A big number of the top teams in the world will be competing in this tournament and I can assure you, we're going to give it our best shot. We're going there to win it."

Supporters staged several protests this season, upset that, despite the expansion of the Etihad Stadium by 9,000 seats, there are fewer season tickets than six years ago.

Another grievance are claims by some supporters groups that tickets are sold through third-party sites for inflated prices.

Al Mubarak said he sympathised with those supporters, saying he was "not OK with the way it played out". He said the club were working with the City Matters group to address and understand the issues.

“What I'm sure about and I hope this message comes out loud and clear, is that relationship of trust between the fans and the club is the foundation of the success and sustainability of this club. And we know that, and we appreciate that deeply.

"These conversations with City Matters and our fans will continue, and we will try to find solutions always to address some of the challenges in a way that is fair for everyone.”

An issue on many people's minds has been the allegations, brought by the Premier League, that City broke more than 100 financial fair play rules over a nine-year period, between 2009 and 2018. They have also been charged with failing to co-operate with Premier League investigations into their finances. City deny all charges.

According to Premier League rules, any punishment could be a points deduction or even the threat of expulsion from the division.

When asked about the charges, Al Mubarak said: “Well, I suppose the only thing I can say is we still don’t have a ruling. Once there’s a ruling, I’ll be able to speak about it. Until then we just have to be patient, and it’ll come, and we will talk about it, I promise you, once we have the ruling.”

The chairman said he was pleased with the overall performance of teams under the City Football Group, citing the fortunes of Brazilian club Bahia, who have gone from the second division to playing in the Copa Libertadores, the South American Champions League, in two years, and Melbourne City, who have reached the men's Grand Final in Australia, while the women's team reached the Women's AFC Champions League final.

Al Mubarak said plans for new academies were also in the works.

“We have a very clear view on what model works. The model that has worked for City Football Group in terms of investing in clubs all around the world is also investing in academies ... [building] connectivity between the first team, the professional team, and the academy. To conclude, the academy component of any team we invest in is fundamental."

Watch: Part 1 of Khaldoon Al Mubarak's end-of-season review