Hospitality records surface

Records that were later removed from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) website show that Andy Burnham, while mayor of Greater Manchester, was a guest of Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak at two matches. The first was an Everton game at the Etihad Stadium in August 2017, a dinner valued at £300 according to the BBC and £338 according to ANSA. The second was the Manchester derby in April 2018, with hospitality valued at approximately £699. In May 2018 the club also provided a pair of tickets for an Ed Sheeran concert, valued at £150. The register was deleted after The Sun first reported on it, and the BBC understands the authority publishes only entries from the current mayoral term.

What the GMCA statement said

The GMCA statement issued on Monday, 12 October, described a formal meeting with Al Mubarak at the UK Government's Global Investment Summit in October 2021, arranged by the Department for International Trade. It also said Burnham met the chairman informally in the stands at Vincent Kompany's testimonial match in September 2019. The statement described Burnham as a guest of the club at home matches "on a small number of occasions" but did not detail the two dinners. Burnham had earlier told MPs that "all of my dealings" with the owners would be published. Asked at Prime Minister's Questions by Conservative MP Jerome Mayhew whether anyone at the club had raised the charges with him, Burnham said the owners had not.

They did not raise those issues with me.

The club's guilty finding

An independent commission found Manchester City guilty on all counts of breaching the Premier League's financial rules, and on most charges relating to failing to co-operate with the league's investigation. The case involved more than 100 charges, which the commission linked to what it described as "sham payments" and inflated revenue, with costs reduced by more than £830 million ($1.1 billion), largely between 2009 and 2018. The club denies the charges and has lodged an appeal. NZZ lists possible penalties ranging from points deductions to forced relegation, while Abu Dhabi has hinted it could shelve planned multibillion investments.

Political pressure and the owners

Opposition figures have pressed the government over the affair. Robert Jenrick accused Burnham of misleading the public, and shadow sports minister Louie French criticised the lack of detail about the talks and the subjects discussed. Burnham had said last month that he would be "really concerned" if the owners sold up, a remark that drew a political and media outcry. Downing Street said that nobody stands above the rules, and Burnham has agreed to publish his full correspondence with the club after initially hesitating.

The 2014 property deal

The council is now reviewing a 2014 profit-sharing property deal with Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), the club's owners. Under the agreement the authority received less than £3m for building almost 1,800 homes. Because ADUG booked its profits offshore, the council cannot be sure this represents the full value it should have received. Council leaders, including chief executive Tom Stannard and Labour leader Garry Bridges, are seeking assurances over the agreement, and a council report published in July had already found "weaknesses in documentation, monitoring and assurance". Bev Craig, Labour leader of Manchester City Council until August, said she "wasn't around in the decision-making of the time" and had never seen evidence of "wrongdoing".

Links to New York City FC

MLS commissioner Don Garber said on Tuesday, 13 October, that the league is not investigating matters relating to New York City FC, which is owned by City Football Group. Garber said MLS is examining how owners act under league rules. NYCFC's chief financial officer, Andrew Widdowson, was head of finance and finance director at Manchester City from 2005 until 2018 before moving to New York to assist on the stadium financing project.

We're fortunate we have owners in our league that own multiple teams throughout every league.