Burnham 'really concerned' Manchester City owners could sell club after rule breaches verdict
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he would be worried if Manchester City's owners decided to sell the club after an independent panel found it guilty of breaching most of the Premier League financial rules it was accused of violating. The club plans to appeal.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he would be "really concerned" if Manchester City's owners chose to sell the club following an independent commission's finding that it breached the majority of Premier League financial rules it was accused of breaking.
The panel found City had arranged "sham contracts" with several commercial partners as part of a scheme to disguise more than £830m in secret funding. The Premier League said the club had systematically broken its rules for nearly a decade. City, owned since 2008 by a group led by Sheikh Mansour, deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and a member of its royal family, continues to deny wrongdoing and intends to appeal the verdict by 2 October.
The Independent Football Regulator, established by the government in 2025, said the case raised "serious issues" and indicated it would consider its options — including whether to revoke the owners' licence to run the club — once the disciplinary process concludes.
A sanctions hearing, which could take months to arrange, will determine the punishment, ranging from a large fine or points deduction to expulsion from the league or stripping the club of the eight trophies won during the period in question. City can appeal both the guilty verdicts and any sanction.
Burnham, who served as mayor of Greater Manchester until June, praised the ownership group for its investment in the Etihad Stadium, the surrounding campus, and the wider city. He said he was confident his own past dealings with City's owners as mayor would withstand scrutiny.
Speaking as an Everton supporter, Burnham drew a parallel with Everton's own 2023 case, when the club was docked points for lesser breaches, a penalty later reduced on appeal. He said he had defended Everton at the time, believing it was treated unfairly, and urged against rushing to judgement over City, while stressing it would be wrong for him to intervene given the stakes for the club, its fans and the city.
