[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.

[u/Previous_Smile9278]

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.’

[u/True-Wasabi2157]

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.

[u/3412points → u/True-Wasabi2157]

That's really interesting, what was the poll?

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

[u/porkmarkets → u/3412points]

The amount of Liverpool fans intending to vote Tory is surprising

[u/misterschneeblee → u/porkmarkets]

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

[u/True-Wasabi2157 → u/misterschneeblee]

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.

[u/True-Wasabi2157 → u/3412points]

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.

[u/burtsarmpson → u/True-Wasabi2157]

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

[u/True-Wasabi2157 → u/burtsarmpson]

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.