The UAE has reportedly threatened to withdraw billions of pounds of investment from the UK unless Manchester City is cleared of financial misconduct allegations, placing further pressure on Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
Emirati officials are said to have warned that the Premier League’s action against the club could affect relations between the UAE and the UK. The threatened investment reportedly includes plans for a high-tech hub between Oxford and Cambridge.
The claims come after Manchester City were found to have breached financial rules during the nine-year period from 2009-10 to 2017-18. The club has announced plans to appeal the verdicts.
An independent commission found that City had used artificial sponsorship arrangements and disguised payments from their Abu Dhabi owners. The club was found guilty of all but one of 115 charges brought against it.
Potential sanctions, including expulsion from the Premier League, a transfer ban or points deductions, remain available to the league. A hearing to decide any punishment is expected to take place in due course.
Mr Burnham has faced criticism after saying he would be “really concerned” if the club’s current owners decided to sell. The Prime Minister previously worked closely with Manchester City’s owners while he was mayor of Greater Manchester.
Asked about a possible sale, Mr Burnham said: “I would be really concerned to lose them. They’ve been such a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester. Obviously, the building of Manchester City into the global force that it is.”
He also said he was grateful for money invested not only in the Etihad Stadium and the surrounding campus, but in Manchester more widely.
Opposition politicians have called on the Prime Minister to declare his links to the club. Conservative shadow sport minister Louie French accused Mr Burnham of publicly backing the owners while the club’s finances were under investigation.
Downing Street later sought to distance the Government from any suggestion that City should receive special treatment, insisting that no football team was above the rules and describing the verdict as serious.
The scrutiny has intensified after Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Manchester City’s chairman and chief executive of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, reportedly met Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds in Downing Street two weeks before the Premier League announced its decision.
Mr Burnham did not attend that meeting, according to the account. Downing Street has said he has not met the club’s owners since becoming Prime Minister in July.
Mr Burnham previously described Abu Dhabi United Group Investment and Development Ltd, the company behind City’s ownership, as “a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester”, pointing to its investment in the city.
