EFL to meet with Pep Guardiola after Manchester City manager's fury over ball
Guardiola lambasted the Mitre Delta ball after the penalty shootout win over Wolves in the EFL Cup suggesting it was "not a serious ball for a professional game"
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Your support makes all the difference.The EFL will discuss Pep Guardiola's criticism of its Mitre ball with him after the Manchester City manager claimed it was "unacceptable".
City and Championship club Wolves played with the Mitre Delta ball in Tuesday's Carabao Cup tie at the Etihad Stadium, when the hosts needed a penalty shoot-out to advance to the quarter-finals with the match goalless after 120 minutes.
Speaking after the game, Guardiola, whose team play with Nike and adidas balls in the Premier League and Champions League respectively, lambasted the Mitre Delta, suggesting it was "not a serious ball for a professional game".
The EFL released a statement on Tuesday defending the ball and adding it would converse with Guardiola over his complaints.
The statement read: "The Mitre ball used in this season's Carabao Cup is of exactly the same technical specification as the balls used in the Sky Bet EFL and Checkatrade Trophy, all of which are tested in accordance with the 'FIFA Quality Programme for Footballs' and meet the 'FIFA Quality Pro' standard.
"All balls used in the professional game are required to meet this standard. Clearly, preference is a subjective matter, but overall the entertainment provided across last night's round-four ties would suggest that the ball used is not having a negative impact in the competition.
"We will look to engage with Mr Guardiola and Manchester City to fully understand any concerns in advance of their round-five tie."
Guardiola was understandably pleased to have progressed on Tuesday evening but was vocal in his criticism of the ball.
"The ball is not acceptable to play with... at that level," he said. "We play with a different ball. It's not Nike, Adidas I don't know, it's a different brand. It's unacceptable to play with the ball. That ball is not a serious ball for a professional game.
"I say that because we won, eh? If I don't win, I don't say that because after that it's excuses. As I won, I can tell you: it is not acceptable to play. If it's for the marketing, for the money, for many reasons, it's okay but it's not acceptable to play with that ball. No weight, nothing.
"(We get the balls for) one day or two days, but the ball is bad two days, one month, one year, two years. It's bad, it's bad. The ball is unacceptable for the high of level of the competition. All the players complain. I assure you all of them say 'what is that?' Really. I am sorry Carabao Cup."
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