Andy Burnham, who holds the position of Prime Minister, has said he will release records of his contact with the ownership group at Manchester City, a commitment that came after questions were raised about remarks he made in the wake of the club's Premier League proceedings. The decision followed a call from Badenoch for Burnham to disclose all documentation tied to that club association.
Burnham expressed concern about the prospect of a sale of Manchester City by its Abu Dhabi-based ownership group, a possibility that arose after the club was found to have broken Premier League financial rules across the period from 2009 to 2018. The club has consistently denied any wrongdoing and is contesting the findings through a formal appeal.
The Prime Minister's description of City's owners as a notable partner in Manchester's development drew objections from political opponents, after which Downing Street issued a clarification stating that the court ruling was a matter to be handled through appropriate channels and that any wrongdoing ought to be dealt with properly.
Appearing on the Rest is Politics podcast ahead of its Monday release, Burnham said he had no objection to disclosing the details of his contacts with the club's ownership, noting that the opposition leader had already asked him to publish records of those meetings, and that he intended to make publicly available everything he had done in his former role as mayor of Greater Manchester. He drew a distinction between matters relating to football regulation and those concerning investment in the city region, arguing that others were attempting to merge the two issues. He also confirmed that he had held only one substantive meeting with the owners during his time at City Hall, in 2021, and that he would place the particulars in the public domain, though he added that the football matters remained a separate and ongoing process that was independent and needed to run its course.
An independent commission, convened at the Premier League's behest, concluded that Manchester City had structured a number of commercial sponsorship deals as fictitious arrangements during the timeframe under scrutiny. The league's account of those arrangements described a broader financing structure in which the sponsoring companies contributed only a portion of the declared income, with the outstanding balance said to have flowed through entities connected to owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Political fallout from the affair has persisted, with shadow sports minister Louie French pressing Burnham to make public any communications he may have had with Manchester City from the point he took up residence in Downing Street. French additionally called on Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to address questions about the Government's relationship with the club, arguing that a full disclosure of every communication between the Prime Minister's ministers, officials, and Manchester City dating from the moment he took office at Downing Street was owed to the public.
Ministers have sought to keep their distance from the independent football governance process while continuing to back investment schemes tied to City's Abu Dhabi-funded ownership structure.
