UK prime minister Andy Burnham would be “concerned to lose” Manchester City‘s Abu-Dhabi-based owners if they were forced out after the club was found guilty of 114 breaches of financial regulations.
City were found guilty of all but one of the 115 charges brought against them by the Premier League, which confirmed the decision by an independent commission in a statement on Tuesday.
Among the breaches were the creation of ‘sham’ contracts to help inflate revenue and reduce costs by more than £900m over nine years covering the 2009-10 season to the 2017-18 campaign.
City have until Friday, October 2, to appeal, and will exercise their right to do so. They could eventually take the case as far as the High Court and claim the process was not impartial.
A points deduction that effectively relegates City from the Premier League to the Championship is viewed as a likely punishment, while a transfer ban and a massive fine are also distinct possibilities.
The prospect of expulsion from the Premier League, which could see the club doomed to non-league if the EFL refuses to accept them as a member, has also been raised. However, a motion on expulsion would require 15 of the 20 Premier League clubs to vote in favour to pass.
The Independent Football Regulator, set up by the UK government in 2025, said City’s case raised “serious issues” and indicated it would explore its options, including the possibility of stripping the owners of their licence to own the club once the appeal process reaches its conclusion.
In an interview with the BBC, Burnham, an Everton fan, referenced their points deduction for a breach of the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules in 2024. The Toffees were originally docked 10 points, but that was reduced to six on appeal.
“I remember people proclaiming Everton guilty at the time, and you know, with hindsight, I think more people would say that wasn’t fair the way that was handled,” Burnham said. “So it would be wrong of me to leap to one side given the experience that I’d had before becoming prime minister.”
The former Mayor of Manchester also praised the City Football Group, the subsidiary that runs the club and is 81 percent owned by Abu Dhabi United Group, for its impact on the local area.
“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,” he added.
“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.”
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