Andy Burnham is facing a growing crisis over the Manchester City affair after the United Arab Emirates warned the Government it could cancel billions of pounds of investment in the UK over the Premier League’s ruling.
Emirati officials said “the Premier League’s actions” would “have an influence on the bilateral state relationship”, Bloomberg reported.
The Telegraph adds that the UAE is threatening to scrap billions of pounds of private investment for a hi-tech Silicon Valley-style hub between Oxford and Cambridge.
On Thursday, Downing Street insisted the guilty verdict against City is “serious”, after Mr Burnham, said he would be “really concerned” to see the current owners sell up.
However, Conservative shadow sport minister Louie French had accused Mr Burnham of “publicly backing the owners” amid a probe into the club’s funding over recent years, describing his comments as “frankly extraordinary”.
Speaking about the owners in television interviews, the Prime Minister said: “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.”
Asked also if his dealings with the club would stand up to scrutiny, he said: “I do actually thank the City Football Group and the wider ownership for the money that they didn’t just put into the Etihad and the campus around it but also into the city – but yes, of course.”
Downing Street was forced to issue two clarifications of his position on Thursday, with a spokesperson for the PM insisting the guilty verdict against Manchester City is “serious”.
Former Manchester City and FA chairman David Bernstein said he was “concerned” about Mr Burnham’s comments and the issue was “something that politicians should be seen to be staying well away from”.
The club was found guilty by the Premier League of 114 charges related to breaches of financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18.
An independent commission found City arranged “sham” commercial deals with a number of its sponsors during the period, which were part of a disguised funding scheme, whereby those companies were required to pay only a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The commission found that the remainder was funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
Manchester City on Friday lodged an appeal. In a statement, it said: “The club’s firm position is that, on multiple grounds, the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe.
“The club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case.
“We will continue to respect due process and are necessarily restricted in what we can say further until all proceedings are complete.”
City will argue that the government of Abu Dhabi – not the club’s owners – part-funded the sponsorship deals.
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