Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he would be “really concerned” should Manchester City’s Emirati owners sell up after the club was found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules. An independent commission found the club guilty of a majority of the charges they faced, including arranging “sham contracts” with commercial partners as part of a scheme to disguise more than £830 million of secret funding. The club continues to deny any wrongdoing and has until Oct. 2 to appeal.
But Burnham, an Everton fan who served as mayor of Greater Manchester before becoming prime minister, praised the achievements of the Abu Dhabi United Group, which has owned the club since 2008 and is led by United Arab Emirates Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Burnham said he was “of course” confident his own interactions with City’s owners when he was mayor would stand up to scrutiny.
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