This archive report was first published on 23 July 2019.
On July 23, 2019, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola responded to a report in Chinese state media, calling it "false" after the Premier League champions were accused of showing "utter disrespect" during their tour of China.
Guardiola expressed his disagreement with the lengthy commentary posted on the English-language website of Xinhua, the state news agency, which stated that Manchester City snubbed fans and only visited China for commercial reasons.
"I don't agree but I should say too that it's false. To make a statement like this they have to know exactly what's happening in our club," Guardiola told media in Hong Kong.
Guardiola also addressed the team's grueling schedule, which included playing two games in four days, before heading off for further friendlies in Hong Kong and Japan.
"So we came here, 23 hours. One day later we travelled two hours by train to play in another city, then came back to Shanghai and now here, and then we're going to Tokyo," Guardiola said.
England striker Raheem Sterling, however, believed that the players had made a "really good connection" with fans during their time in China.
"We took a little bit longer than we expected to get to China, the turnaround was a bit fast and there was a lot we had to catch up on as well. A lot of us have been struggling with sleep," he said.
