Andy Burnham has pledged to publish details of his dealings with Manchester City’s owners following criticism over his support for the club in the wake of its £830million ‘sham’ contracts storm.
The Prime Minister said he would ‘put out there’ all of his interactions with the club’s Abu Dhabi-backed ownership after Tory leader Kemi Badenoch demanded he release ‘everything’ connected to his work with City.
The row erupted after former Greater Manchester Mayor Mr Burnham reacted to an independent inquiry finding City guilty of 114 charges of breaching Premier League financial regulations between 2009 and 2018.
It is alleged ‘sham’ contracts with commercial partners secretly funded £830million for football operations.
The club has maintained their innocence and is appealing the verdict. Mr Burnham initially told the BBC he would be ‘really concerned’ if the club’s owners decided to sell City because of the controversy, describing it as ‘a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester’.
His comment prompted questions about his relationship with the club’s ownership and led Downing Street to distance itself from the remark.
Prime minister Andy Burnham (with Man City chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak in 2019) says he will release the details of his dealings with Manchester City in his previous mayoral role
No 10 stressed that any wrongdoing established through the process should have consequences.
Speaking on The Rest is Politics podcast, Mr Burnham said the football case should be separate from investment the owners had brought to the region.
He said: ‘I will quite clearly put out there everything that I have done working with them in my previous role as Mayor of Greater Manchester.
‘None of it is recent, in terms of meetings I had. I only had one significant meeting and that was in 2021. That is right and I will put that all out there.
‘But the football issues, they are serious and have to be dealt with and the process is independent and it has to run its course. But I think everybody should separate the investment issues because they’re not the same thing.’
His intervention comes as scrutiny grows over the relationship between political figures and major investors linked to Premier League clubs.
The Premier League said an independent commission found City arranged ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors during the period, which were part of a disguised funding scheme, whereby those companies were required to pay only a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The commission found that the remainder was funded by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd, which majority-owned the club.
Burnham received backlash for his comments that many felt were ‘tone deaf’
Shadow sports minister Louie French called for Burnham to also ‘come clean’ about any meetings since becoming Prime Minister and urged Sport Secretary Lisa Nandy to respond to questions.
Man City, now Premier League pariahs, returned to the pitch on Sunday afternoon, beating Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield.
The delight of the travelling supporters and players showcased a club embracing their shame and while severe punishments will follow if their appeal fails, for now the club are allowed to continue as usual.
Having been found guilty on almost all charges in the biggest cheating scandal in British sporting history, the case has major ramifications at every level of society, including Downing Street.
The Premier League is currently in limbo, with City top of the table but seemingly likely to be cast out if the original verdict is upheld.
No doubt the content of Burnham’s meetings will be eagerly awaited by those following the case and diplomatic tension between Britain and Abu Dhabi is understood to have risen over the case that rocked football.
