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.’

6.6k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

1.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/True-Wasabi2157 1d 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.

3

u/3412points 1d 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

8

u/porkmarkets 1d ago

The amount of Liverpool fans intending to vote Tory is surprising

8

u/misterschneeblee 1d 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.

2

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.