Andy Burnham, the Man City cheats and £20bn-worth of good faith | OneFootball

Andy Burnham, fresh from his vow to fix social care through a radical NHS-style system and between attempts to create viral social media clips with a pint in hand, has been asked about what has quickly become one of the greatest sporting scandals in history and is “frustrated when people rush to judgement”.

Not the response many might have expected from our Man of the People Prime Minister.

The Premier League has now confirmed that an independent panel has found City guilty on all charges related to breaches of their financial regulations over a nine-year period.

It was found that City had arranged “sham” contracts with commercial partners to inflate revenues and reduce costs to the tune of over £900m.

City maintain their innocence and are expected to appeal the ruling as we wait for the punishment handed down by the Premier League and just how much they will have to pay their rivals in damages.

It’s hugely damaging for Manchester City, of course, with points deductions, relegation(s), transfer bans and massive fines all in the offing, but also for Brand Premier League, whose pride at upholding the rules has been tainted by them requiring Der Spiegel to expose the wrongdoing and their league being a “sham” for the nine years in which a cheating football club rose to prominence and started to dominate.

But this, as Burnham’s stance (or lack of one) illustrates, goes far beyond football, with the £1bn discrepancy in Manchester City’s books nothing close to the hole there could be in the UK economy if City’s Abu Dhabi owners get hounded out of the football club, which as the Independent Football Regulator chair David Kogan explains, is within the remit of the new body.

“The independent commission’s decision raises serious issues,” Kogan said.

“The IFR has powers to assess the suitability of owners, directors and executives and we will use these powers where appropriate, in the interests of protecting the sustainability, honesty and integrity of English football where there is clear evidence of wrongdoing by individuals.

“This includes taking account of findings made by the Leagues. However, as the proceedings remain ongoing between Manchester City and the Premier League we will await further developments.”

The Prime Minister experienced the value of their investment while Mayor of Manchester.

“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,” 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.

“I can’t intervene more in the process. It would be wrong for me to do that. It would be wrong, I think, to jump to a conclusion before having really studied all of the detail, but obviously it’s ongoing, and because it’s still contested by Manchester City, then I think it’s right that I don’t say much more.

“I have to keep my distance from it. It would be wrong for me to do anything else. It’s an independent legal process that has to play its course through.

“So for the reasons I gave at the start, you know, I was involved in one myself in relation to Everton. I think it’s frustrating when people rush to judgment and proclaim people guilty. I think the thing has to be allowed to run its course.”

You’ve got to wonder what he’ll say when a line is finally drawn under it all, given the cost to the country of p*ssing these people off could be so seismic.

City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who wrote an open letter to the City fans over the weekend insisting upon their innocence, is the CEO of the Mubadala Investment Company, who have channeled over £20 billion into British infrastructure, technology, energy and financial services in the last five years.

Reports suggest there is a desire to continue the relationship and to attract further UAE investment in aviation, defence and AI.

“Abu Dhabi ownership of City is deeply embedded in a network of diplomatic, economic and investment relations between Britain and the Gulf state,” said Simon Chadwick, professor of AfroEurasian sport at Emlyon Business School. “From the Abu Dhabi side, the owners won’t want to lose face or see their trophy club asset diminished in any way.”

The relationship between the two countries was tested in 2024 when the UK government blocked a deal by RedBird IMI – a US investment group backed by Abu Dhabi – from acquiring Telegraph Media Group.

“We saw how Abu Dhabi responded with anger to the Telegraph backlash and this is bigger and potentially more damaging,” said Gulf affairs expert Kristian Coates Ulrichsen.

Burnham is between a rock and a hard place. He has a burgeoning reputation as a Prime Minister who stands up for what’s right and Manchester City’s owners have been found guilty of breaking the rules on a consistent, never-before-seen level. Had they not rebuilt Manchester and ploughed money into the UK economy, he would surely have no problem with jumping the appeal gun and condemning their cheating.

But he, Manchester and country as a whole have relied on the investment of this group of cheats, and the Prime Minister – who became Prime Minister on the back of his UAE-backed work in Manchester – is hoping he can continue to rely on them in future and a bunch of blokes kicking a ball around a football pitch pales in significance in comparison.