Manchester City have shut down any prospect of their players discussing the independent commission's verdict, with Erling Haaland the latest to find the subject off limits.
The Norway striker sat down with Viaplay on Thursday ahead of Sunday's trip to Liverpool. The broadcaster, which holds Premier League rights in Norway, had wanted to raise the commission's findings — that City committed serious breaches of the league's financial rules. The club deny the verdict and are appealing. The question never got asked.
"We were told in no uncertain terms that the topic was off the table," said Viaplay sports director Kristian Oma.
Oma added that no other top-flight club had been willing to sanction questions on the verdict in the build-up to this weekend's fixtures. A collective gagging, then, though not one City arranged alone.
Enzo Maresca faced the media on Friday and made his own limits clear, stressing repeatedly that he was strictly constrained in what he could say. Since the commission's findings landed, the club have kept their public response tightly controlled — a short statement of innocence, a brief letter from chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, and the promise of an appeal doing the talking rather than exposing players or staff to open questioning. The sanctions hearing is still to come, and the appeal has been lodged.
Haaland, to his credit, was happy enough to talk about football. He sounded upbeat about the travelling support heading to Merseyside, predicting the City fans making the trip "are gonna have a good time" at Anfield.
Maresca also called for players and supporters to pull together through a testing run of fixtures. Sunday's 16:30 kick-off at Liverpool is quickly followed by a Champions League date with Paris Saint-Germain. Two heavyweight tests in quick succession, and a club doing its best to keep the noise down.