Khaldoon Al Mubarak met UK minister 11 days before City guilty verdict | OneFootball

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak held a private meeting with Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds 11 days before an independent commission found the club guilty of serious financial breaches. The timing has injected political sensitivity into a landmark disciplinary case.

According to Bloomberg, the high-level talks covered trade, intelligence, security and defence, with the primary aim of discussing United Arab Emirates investment in the United Kingdom. There is no evidence the Premier League case was raised.

The commission ruled breaches across nine seasons from 2009/10 to 2017/18, finding City used sham commercial arrangements and disguised funding to inflate revenues by more than £830m and to circumvent Premier League and UEFA spending rules.

It rejected the club’s claim that injections came via the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court rather than Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group, describing that account as a later attempt to obscure a disguised funding scheme. City were also found to have failed to cooperate.

The Football Association said the decision has significant implications for the integrity of the game and that it is considering the ruling and potential action.

City have lodged what they call a comprehensive appeal at 7pm on Thursday 1 October 2026. They maintain they have done nothing wrong and argue the opinion contains material errors of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe.

Source: Goal.com

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