Prime Minister Andy Burnham promised to disclose the details of his meetings with Manchester City executives after being criticized for comments made following the club’s finding of violations of Premier League financial rules.
The British prime minister, who was the mayor of Manchester before joining the House of Commons in June, began to face questions about his ties to the club’s owners, linked to Abu Dhabi, after he had defended Gulf investments in the region while he held his previous position. An independent commission concluded that Manchester City artificially inflated its financial results by more than £900 million (R$ 5.9 billion).
“I was asked by the opposition leader to publish the details of my meetings, and I am happy to do so, and I will do so,” Burnham told the podcast The Rest is Politics. “I will disclose clearly everything I did while working with them in my former role as Mayor of Greater Manchester.”
In a segment of the podcast, Burnham stated that he had only held “one significant meeting,” which took place in 2021.
Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party, had asked the prime minister’s office to disclose all details of the meetings he had with Manchester City executives.
Burnham denied downplaying the gravity of the commission’s findings against the eight-time Premier League champions after declaring that he would be “really worried” if the club’s owners — Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates and the American manager Silver Lake — decided to sell their stake following the commission’s decision.
The prime minister’s statements drew concern among lawmakers and staff at the British Foreign Office, as they could conflict with recent laws prohibiting politicians from interfering in processes involving football clubs. Sanctions against Manchester City have not yet been announced.
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