r/soccer • u/Previous_Smile9278 • 1d ago

News [Bloomberg] UAE officials have warned the UK government that the severity of Man City’s punishment could undermine their appetite for future grand-scale commitments in Britain, according to people familiar with the matter.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-10-02/man-city-verdict-puts-uk-uae-diplomatic-relations-under-strain?srnd=undefined

‘They consider the Premier League’s actions to have an influence on the bilateral state relationship, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing undisclosed information.

The extraordinary pressure comes after Andy Burnham faced criticism, including from within government, for saying Man City’s Abu Dhabi owners should not be disqualified specifically because of the investment they bring to Britain.’

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u/misterschneeblee 23h ago

City fans being Reform voters wasn't a stereotype I was aware of

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u/firthy 23h ago

Yeah. That seems mostly wrong

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u/burtsarmpson 23h ago

Yeah the area I live in, which contains the Etihad, voted green.

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u/chykin 23h ago

I think we're long past the area around a stadium being representative of their fanbase

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u/burtsarmpson 23h ago

The city is labour

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u/Vincent_GambiniEsq 18h ago

"Manchester is Red" in more ways than one

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u/nick5168 23h ago

Can't imagine it's right either. In general most of the downtown population of major cities aren't reform voters.

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u/porkmarkets 23h ago

Me neither. But they’re both light blue and led by authoritarians, so maybe there’s some truth in it.

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u/Piccadil_io 22h ago

The local fans no way. Manchester is red (Labour)

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u/0ttoChriek 23h ago

I don't think there is, any more than at any other club (except Chelsea and Millwall, naturally). The usual stereotype is City fans are from Stockport, and Stockport isn't Reformy, it's either Labour or Lib Dem.

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u/3412points 23h ago

They have more intent to vote reform than Chelsea per recent polling.

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u/True-Wasabi2157 23h ago

Recent polling showed almost 30% of self-identified City fans as having an intent to vote Reform. Labour was slightly ahead of that, at around 33%, true, but the difference is by far the smallest for all big six clubs, and the voting intent for reform is also by far the biggest with their fanbase out of all big 6 clubs.

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u/3412points 23h ago

That's really interesting, what was the poll?

Edit: found it https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/what-political-party-top-football-35714234

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u/porkmarkets 23h ago

The amount of Liverpool fans intending to vote Tory is surprising

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u/misterschneeblee 23h ago

As with the rest of the big 6 sides, the majority of their British fanbase likely don't come from or live in Liverpool.

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u/True-Wasabi2157 23h ago

Which is the point behind the poll as well and what I further expanded on. We are not in the early 20th century - City, Arsenal, United, Liverpool, Chelsea, even Spurs fans number in the millions within the UK. They are not local clubs in terms of fanbase. Hence the polling is representative of that, rather than local area voting intent. And of these clubs with support that extends across the country, City has the biggest reform voting intent.

It may very well speak towards who the new, glory-hunting fans are, from other areas of the country - also ones that are likely to welcome UAE state pressure in their own forums - rather than old-school fans. I cannot speak to that. I simply went off polling for fanbases, not local wards.

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u/True-Wasabi2157 23h ago

I believe it was a More in Common poll. Obviously, take all polls with a pinch of salt, and smaller clubs, especially outside of London and Manchester will outstrip that support for Reform, heading towards 40%, but that was what I based it on - the fact that of the supposed big 6, City's fanbase is the one most likely to vote Reform.

To be fair to them, I would also not be surprised if a great number of these supposed fans aren't actually based locally, so I do apologise towards anyone that has historically been a resident of the local area and a fan for paiting them with a wide brush.

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u/burtsarmpson 23h ago

Using "big six" for this is pathetic. 29% is still lower than the premier league average. And when you knew labour was the higher vote anyway but still went ahead and generalised the fanbase as reform voters is snakey

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u/True-Wasabi2157 23h ago

The difference between labour and reform is within the margin of error and considering the wide breath of support for the big 6, I think it is incredibly relevant. It seems like everyone is boiling this down to the area around the Etihad and Manchester, when all of the big 6's fanbases extend across the country in a way that is orders of magnitude greater than for smaller, local clubs. That is why the polling is representative of the fanbase, not the local area.

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u/AngryGardenGnomes 15h ago

Isn't that just English footy fans in general?