UAE ‘to withdraw’ billions in UK investment over Manchester City guilty verdict | OneFootball

The Telegraph reports that the United Arab Emirates have warned prime minister Andy Burnham they will withdraw billions of pounds of investment from the United Kingdom in response to the guilty verdict against Manchester City.

The development comes a day after City said it would appeal the decision of an independent commission appointed by the Premier League, which found the club guilty of 114 financial breaches between 2009 and 2018.

The warning was framed as retaliation for the ruling on the club, which is owned by an Emirati fund.

Burnham, formerly mayor of Greater Manchester, had initially said he would be very worried if the UAE chose to sell the club after the Premier League decision. Downing Street later rowed back, stressing that no team is above the rules.

The threatened pullout concerns private capital the government had been seeking for a technology corridor between Oxford and Cambridge, billed as a British answer to Silicon Valley.

Club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak met the secretary of state for business, Jonathan Reynolds, two weeks before the Premier League announcement. He already knew City had been found guilty at the time, although details had not yet been made public.

Source: L'Équipe

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