Burnham to publish Manchester City meetings after club intervention sparks row

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Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to publish details of his dealings with Manchester City’s owners during his time as Mayor of Greater Manchester after facing criticism over comments he made following the club’s landmark Premier League case.

The move comes after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch challenged Burnham to release “everything” connected to his work with the club.

Last month, Burnham said he would be “really concerned” if City’s Abu Dhabi owners chose to sell the club following a ruling that found the Premier League champions guilty of breaching financial regulations between 2009 and 2018. The club has maintained its innocence and is appealing the findings.

The Prime Minister described City’s owners as “a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester”, prompting criticism from political opponents and leading Downing Street to clarify that he regarded the judgment as serious and believed any wrongdoing should be addressed appropriately.

Speaking on the Rest is Politics podcast, due to be released on Monday, Burnham said he was happy to disclose details of his contacts with the club’s ownership.

“I’ve been asked by the leader of the opposition to publish details of my meetings, which I’m happy to do,” 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.”

Burnham insisted there was a clear distinction between football regulatory matters and investment in the city region.

“The football issues are different from the investment issues,” he said.

“But I see now people trying to conflate these things.”

The Prime Minister added that he had only held one “significant meeting” with the owners during his time at City Hall, in 2021, and said he would place the details in the public domain.

“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,” he said.

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The Premier League said an independent commission found Manchester City had arranged a series of “sham” commercial agreements with sponsors during the period under investigation. According to the league, those deals formed part of a wider funding arrangement in which only part of the sponsorship income came from the companies involved, with the remainder allegedly funded via entities linked to owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The controversy has continued to generate political fallout, with shadow sports minister Louie French calling on Burnham to disclose any contacts with Manchester City since entering Downing Street.

French also urged Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to answer questions about the Government’s dealings with the club.

“The Prime Minister must publish every contact between his ministers, officials and Manchester City since he walked into Number 10,” he said.

The row comes as ministers seek to distance themselves from the independent football process while maintaining support for investment projects associated with City’s Abu Dhabi-backed ownership.