UAE threatening Burnham over Man City

Sarnia

Casdon

I can’t see Burnham conceding goals in this case, he won’t allow bribery in football to go unpunished.

Burnham made a crass statement during the week saying that he would not want the owners to sell the club. Granted, they have done much for the regeneration of Manchester, a cause very close to our PM's heart but it sounded as if he hoped the FA would go easy on them.
They have been found guilty by an independent inquiry on 115 charges concerning FFP (Financial Fair Play) which all teams must adhere to, sham contracts and 35 instances of where City refused to cooperate or answers questions.
They have appealed which must be concluded within 60 days and then strict sanctions must be imposed on Manchester City. Other clubs have had huge fines, deduction of points and enforced relegation.
The FA must make their final decision on the facts they have in front of them and ignore remarks from other sources. For the future of the game they have to come out of all this with transparency, integrity and fairness to all the other clubs who have to stick to the rules.
This isn't over yet.

I’m not sure why you related what had happened so far (except what Burnham had said yesterday) Sarnia, did you think I wasn’t up to speed with what had happened so far?

Visgir1

He has no option, Burnham can not bend to the "Blackmail" of the UAE, even though he let money in from the UAE to invest in his beloved Manchester.
He has a lot more to loose than a Football club. Going to be interesting when HMRC puts their oar in, ohh dear what an almighty mess.

I agree.
AB needs to be firm with the UAE on this, we aren’t some third world country with little choice.

No implied subliminal message Casdon.

fancythat

The UAE has threatened to pull billions of pounds of investment out of the UK unless Manchester City are cleared of financial misconduct allegations, a report has claimed.

Well, the UAE are saying loud and clear that financial misconduct means nothing to that Country.

The UAE can stick their money.
Instead of blackmail they should look closer to home and make a start at putting their own house in order starting with their woeful human rights record.
Leave our national game alone!!!

Casdon

I can’t see Burnham conceding goals in this case, he won’t allow bribery in football to go unpunished.

Burnham made a crass statement during the week saying that he would not want the owners to sell the club. Granted, they have done much for the regeneration of Manchester, a cause very close to our PM's heart but it sounded as if he hoped the FA would go easy on them.
They have been found guilty by an independent inquiry on 115 charges concerning FFP (Financial Fair Play) which all teams must adhere to, sham contracts and 35 instances of where City refused to cooperate or answers questions.
They have appealed which must be concluded within 60 days and then strict sanctions must be imposed on Manchester City. Other clubs have had huge fines, deduction of points and enforced relegation.
The FA must make their final decision on the facts they have in front of them and ignore remarks from other sources. For the future of the game they have to come out of all this with transparency, integrity and fairness to all the other clubs who have to stick to the rules.
This isn't over yet.

It wasn’t the article which made me query if you were implying a subliminal message, it was your accompanying comment LizzieDrip.

“Naturally, the Guardian article takes opinions from both sides”

Precisely MaizieD, which is why I shared. I found it a very balanced article.

The UAE has threatened to pull billions of pounds of investment out of the UK unless Manchester City are cleared of financial misconduct allegations, a report has claimed.

Well, the UAE are saying loud and clear that financial misconduct means nothing to that Country.

Thanks for the link Lizziedrip 👍 as you say no AB corruption alleged. This whole thing as it pans out will be interesting to watch.

London is the UK primary hub for Gulf capital deployment in the UK.

UEA has made investment into many London major projects, commercial real estate, technology, green energy projects etc across the capital. This has deepened UK/UAE bilateral trade and financial services collaboration.

In 2021 Boris Johnson and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed signed the UEA/UK Sovereign Investment Partnership agreement in Downing Street, an agreement for UAE to invest £10 billion in priority UK industries.

How things pan out in Manchester and what that may mean for the UEA/UK SIP will also be interesting to watch.

LizzieDrip

And, of course Mr Burnham, when mayor of Manchester happily took huge investments from the UAE financial group towards the ‘rebuilding’ of Manchester:

www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/oct/01/success-manchester-city-helped-put-andy-burnham-in-power

Are the UAE investments in land and property in Manchester in any way linked to the corruption now disclosed at Manchester City FC? Is there any suggestion that Burnham was aware of the latter?

As Local Authorities weren't given money to invest in development by any governments where were they supposed to get the money from? Or were they just expected to fade away?

Chatgtp says that LAs seeking foreign investment is quite usual.

The key question is whether the terms of Manchester's particular Abu Dhabi arrangement were unusually advantageous to the investor compared with the terms other councils obtained from private/international investors.

Naturally, the Guardian article takes opinions from both sides

He has no option, Burnham can not bend to the "Blackmail" of the UAE, even though he let money in from the UAE to invest in his beloved Manchester.
He has a lot more to loose than a Football club. Going to be interesting when HMRC puts their oar in, ohh dear what an almighty mess.

No, I’m sharing a Guardian article.

Are you implying corruption LizzieDrip?

And, of course Mr Burnham, when mayor of Manchester happily took huge investments from the UAE financial group towards the ‘rebuilding’ of Manchester:

www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/oct/01/success-manchester-city-helped-put-andy-burnham-in-power

It has emerged that Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the football club’s chairman, met Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, in Downing Street a fortnight before the Premier League announced it had found City guilty of breaking the rules.

The Jonathan Reynolds who lied about being a solicitor, I wonder if the Deputy PM was there as well.

I don’t think Burnham will be out of his depth, he knows a bribe when he sees one and also knows not to touch it with a barge pole. And am sure the electorate would rather lose UAE money than countenance this level of political interference.

Totally agree MaizieD 👍

I think it would be better to wait until there is known action taken by the government on the UAE's threat before judging whether or not Burnham is 'way out of his depth'.

My opinion is that he should tell the UAE to take a running jump. We should not have the country controlled by dirty foreign money. There is no reason why the UK government couldn't invest in the Oxford - Cambridge development. If the UAE can see profit in investing in it then so should we...

GrannyGravy13

I feel for the players and all the ancillary staff at the club.

None of this is of their making, a shadow is hanging over the Etihad Stadium.

I agree.
Has tainted the club and the latest news about the owner and his brother attempting to bribe Burnham makes this even worse. Is a foul smelling mess.

Can you give your evidence for saying Burnham is ‘way out of his depth here’, eazybee*, or is it just another poison dripping attempt?

I feel for the players and all the ancillary staff at the club.

None of this is of their making, a shadow is hanging over the Etihad Stadium.

If the UAE succeed in manipulating Burnham what does that mean for the PM and for premiership football??

Burnham is way out of his depth here.One would hope he will reject the offer of money from UAE for the Oxford-Cambridge development; nothing comes from UAE without strings attached.
As for Manchester City it has bought (term used advisedly) shame on a once proud team.

The UK cannot bow down to such pressure, it would be a dreadful precedent. Other clubs have suffered penalties, Everton and Chelsea (and Chelsea self-reported) for two. Manchester City need to face the consequences of their wrongdoing. If Burnham puts pressure on the FA to go leniently on Manchester City then he would be just as corrupt as them.

I agree Casdon.

I can’t see Burnham conceding goals in this case, he won’t allow bribery in football to go unpunished.