Shortly after taking up residence at Downing Street, Andy Burnham placed a call to Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates, conveying gratitude for the investment his country had directed toward Manchester. The telephone contact reached Burnham only a short time after he had taken up the post of Prime Minister, according to the formal transcript of their exchange.
The exchange points to a working relationship between the UK's incoming prime minister and the Gulf nation whose ruling family holds ownership of Manchester City. Questions of timing arose after an independent commission determined that Manchester City's ownership had breached Premier League regulations across a period of nearly ten years — a verdict that landed not long after the sequence of events in question. The club has lodged an appeal against the ruling.
Two weeks before this report, Mansoor Abulhoul — the UAE's ambassador to the United Kingdom — met with Burnham, with Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak present throughout the visit. Talks between the two sides are understood to have covered both existing UAE capital commitments to Britain and those being planned for the years ahead.
Three independent adjudicators delivered findings of culpability once the lengthy proceedings had run their course. Findings from the probe have been placed alongside some of the gravest integrity lapses the sport has encountered.
Burnham told reporters he would have notable concerns about any potential sale by the club's owners, and noted that drawing conclusions without a full picture of the facts was counterproductive. The comments prompted a notable degree of negative reaction from observers.
Robert Jenrick, speaking as Reform's Treasury spokesman, contended that Burnham's priorities appeared to favour investment from the Middle East over safeguarding the sport's governing standards. A Number 10 spokesperson subsequently stated that anyone found to have committed wrongdoing ought to face penalties proportionate to their actions.
Ties between Manchester and Abu Dhabi were first established roughly two decades ago. A £200 million takeover of Manchester City in 2008 placed the club under the ownership of Abu Dhabi United Group, a private investment vehicle controlled by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is the brother of the UAE's head of state.
Hundreds of millions of pounds have been directed by the club's ownership group into the east Manchester area. Three projects accounted for the bulk of the outlay: the Co-op Live arena at £450 million, a football facility drawing £200 million in investment, and a north-stand expansion at the Etihad Stadium priced at £300 million. Manchester City Council, which holds ownership of the Etihad Stadium, was itself navigating a period of financial strain at the time of the transaction.
Nick McGeehan, who leads FairSquare's work at the intersection of sport and human rights, stated that the UAE's existing relationship with Andy Burnham could be leveraged as a way of sidestepping scrutiny. He anticipated that the UAE would apply considerable political pressure on the UK Government, with the aim of prompting it to intervene with the Premier League.
Burnham held the sports minister post in 2008 and, as a declared Everton supporter, expressed the view at that time that high-value club takeovers posed a threat to the long-term health of football in England. He argued that stricter vetting of prospective club owners — covering both their commitment to the team's welfare and their regard for the surrounding community — should be built into the approval process.
During a 2023 podcast appearance, Burnham urged listeners to visit east Manchester and compare its present-day appearance with photographs taken three decades earlier, pointing to the Manchester City ownership group as having contributed a substantial portion of the area's inward investment. A photograph taken at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium in 2019 captured both Burnham and Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the ground.
