Man City ownership defended by...Man City honorary president

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FT Desk

The former leader of Manchester City Council has defended the Man City's ownership amid the financial scandal that is enveloping football.

Last week, Man City were found guilty of 114 charges of financial breaches between 2009 and 2018. They stand accused of manipulating sponsorship deals to inflate the club's revenue, allowing them to spend in the transfer market as they please.

Another serious element of the charges is that the Premier League believe the club not sufficiently cooperate with the investigation, which went on for years.

The punishment for the charges is yet to be determined, but fines, a transfer ban and even relegation are all very real possibilities.

The situation has raised questions about the Abu Dhabi ownership and whether they will continue at Man City, especially considering the state has flooded billions of pounds into infrastructure in the city.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham previously said he would be "concerned" about the owners leaving before later backtracking, saying no one is above the law.

The relationship between the Man City owners and Manchester City Council has been defended by Sir Richard Leese, who serves as honorary president of the club.

"Though I'm an honorary president of the club I'm speaking on behalf of myself, I'm not speaking on behalf of the club," he said on BBC Radio 4.

"Certainly the investment in Manchester from Abu Dhabi has been very significant. Starting with the fact they brought their training complex and their headquarters of the City Football Group from a rural setting right into the middle of the city, a mile and a half from the city centre, investing a way over nine figure sum in reclaiming lots of derelict, heavily polluted industrial land.

He added: "I think for the city, one thing about working with Abu Dhabi is that everything that they've promised, they've delivered. They have real credibility in the city. That's something we want to maintain."

Man City have appealed the charges, which also include double payments to players and managers, such as Roberto Mancini.

"The club of course are still claiming very strongly that they're innocent and say they're going to prove their innocence," Leese explained.

"Certainly there is some way to go before we can finally conclude what the position is.

"But certainly for the city to lose the contribution that they have made in a way that I don't think any other premiership club or any other football club has got anywhere near the contribution that they have made for their local community."

When asked if Abu Dhabi's credibility within the city of Manchester had taken a hit, he replied:

"There are a large number of fans who are still sticking with the club and are waiting for the final determination of this. I think you can't go back in time and what has been created in Manchester City is phenomenal really. That has to be maintained in some way, whatever the final outcome of the allegations against them."

The Telegraph reported that the Abu Dhabi government had threatened to withdraw funding for a number of planned "grand-scale" developments in the UK if Man City received severe punishment from the Premier League.

In 2022, a report by the University of Sheffield, called Manchester Offshored, raised questions about the wider public value of the schemes like a lack of affordable housing in the city, and a lack of transparency around the finances involved.