Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he will release details of his meetings with senior figures at Manchester City. He made the pledge after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch demanded that Downing Street publish all details of meetings between the prime minister and the club’s senior figures.
The move follows criticism of Burnham’s comments after an independent commission found Manchester City guilty of all charges related to breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules. The commission found the club had broken the rules over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018 by creating “sham” contracts with commercial partners to secretly funnel more than £830m into its football operations.
Burnham told the Rest is Politics podcast that he was happy to publish the details. “I will quite clearly put out there everything that I have done working with them in my previous role as Mayor of Greater Manchester,” he said. He added that none of the meetings were recent. “I only had one significant meeting, actually, and that was in 2021.”
Burnham’s past role as mayor of Greater Manchester has prompted questions about his relationship with City’s Abu Dhabi ownership. He held the post from 2017 until earlier this year, a period that coincided with a sustained spell of success for the club. As mayor, he championed investment from the Gulf as a way to grow Manchester’s economy.
Burnham defends his comments
Burnham initially said he would be “really concerned” if City’s owners decided to sell the club following the guilty verdict. He later denied that his reaction had “downplayed the seriousness of the findings.”
He also insisted he had not misspoken. “I don’t think I misspoke,” Burnham said. He explained that his attention had been on the Labour Party conference and the interviews linked to it, and he rejected the suggestion that the football and investment issues were connected. “The football issues are different from the investment issues. People will try and conflate those two things, but they shouldn’t, in my view,” he said. “The football issues, the findings of the independent commission are serious, as I said in the interview.”
Clubs voice concern over political interference
Some Premier League clubs were reportedly “astonished” by Burnham’s stance. Sources said the clubs were “concerned” about political interference in the appeal process.
The disciplinary process is independent of the Premier League. An independent commission held a 42-day hearing in 2024, which led to the verdict announced last month. City were also found guilty of all charges except one relating to non-cooperation with the Premier League investigation. The commission’s report said that “a number of important club witnesses gave false evidence in key respects and that some knowingly gave untrue and dishonest evidence.”
Sanctions have not yet been announced. City have lodged an appeal, which a separate independent appeal board will hear, and the club continues to deny any wrongdoing. City returned to action for the first time since the verdict on Sunday, when they won 3-0 at Liverpool.