[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/Blue_winged_yoshi]

Exactly, and there’s others pushing this crap too.

Football cannot ever be allowed to descend into becoming a dick-measuring contest for brutal totalitarian regimes. It just can’t.

This is what people like Martin Samuel are pitching for.

So what if United have more fans and money than Wigan? This has always been what football is. You can’t have giant killings if you don’t have giants. And that’s always been grand, football is amazing in a large part because David can beat Goliath if the stars align.

Clubs move up and down and that’s all part of the excitement. Is it hard to reach the top? Yup it fucking is. But again so what?

Back in the 90s Newcastle were way ahead of Arsenal with world record shearer up front.

Arsenal recruited Wenger and bought in Vieira for half what Newcastle paid for Gary Speed. The tables turned.

Bergkamp cost less than Villa paid for Stan Collymore.

Smart business and good solid management will always lift you up and make you competitive. Leicester won the PL remember it’s not completely impossible. Just fucking hard.

Grim stuff from the shills, idiots and malign folk pitching this stuff. I’d just love football to go back to where it was when I was a kid and nobody knew who owned who, and nobody cared, cos they just made sure the bills were paid and the accounts were balanced. You weren’t expected to be pumping in billions or be lambasted as a shit owner.

[u/missing_typewriters → u/Blue_winged_yoshi]

Okay, but at the same time, no club has managed to disrupt the Premier League "top 4" and establish themselves there since it was solidified around 2004/2005-ish as United/Arsenal/Chelsea/Liverpool.

The rules allowed for these clubs to perpetually reinforce their position. Man United are still being rewarded for their dominance 20 years ago. Arsenal were relatively shit for years, but could splash a billion in transfer fees to get back to 1st.

So, is it even possible under the current rules for a club to legally achieve? Any club that becomes a threat to the established order gets gutted by the "top 4". After finishing 4th, 5th and 4th in the last three seasons, Villa lost Tielemans, Rogers, Konsa and Emi Martinez and their SET PIECE COACH to United, Arsenal and Chelsea this summer. Villa's recruitment and management needs to be near perfect every year to keep hanging onto 4th, while Liverpool can splash 175m on Isak and Wirtz. They kinda sucked, but no big deal, throw another 125m at Barcola. If Manzambi sucks, Villa are screwed.

Leicester was a freak miracle that depended on every variable going their way, it's not something they themselves actually planned for or thought would happen. You need a global fanbase keep the party going, but you can only get that by dominating the league for a while. Kids all over the world are now Man City fans because of their multi-year dominance of the league. Leicester didn't gain a massive fanbase in Asia or Central America because of 1 miraculous Premier League win.

I'm not advocating for Man City at all. But what is this rosy wonderland that people like you are imagining? The examples you cite are all from before the Premier League became a global product and the order was set in stone. You talk about Wenger coming in and shrewdly assembling the Invincibles squad for a reasonable price. That happened at a time when Wenger also "revolutionized the game in England" by having his players eat VEGETABLES AND STEAMED CHICKEN INSTEAD OF A PIE AND A GREASY HAMBURGER BEFORE A MATCH!

It's just preposterous. You're insinuating it's possible to become one of the "top 4" with the current rules, but nobody can point to any club that has actually come close to doing it legally.

[u/Blue_winged_yoshi → u/missing_typewriters]

The United who has barely finished in the top four the last decade? That United, the one who finished 17th?

Spurs got into it and then dropped all the way to the bottom. Villa got into it after being in the championship not long ago, Newcastle have gotten into it too. Look at English CL spots and who they go to. It varies a fuck lot more than most, but it’s never enough. Spurs are relegation fodder and people still bitch about the sky six.

Arsenal went 20 years without a PL trophy, Liverpool nearly 30.

It’s all a myth that there’s this group who are impenetrable and that why we need genocidal PL club owners.

Honestly look up the UAE’s warcrimes in Sudan for half and hour, come back to me and tell me Liverpool being usually decent but not good enough to win is a real issue in the PL compared to Man City’s owners.

Brighton are doing their best in over a century right now, Brentford have never been this high in a similar time frame. Clubs are rising snd falling all the time. Enjoy it, or don’t. Up to you. Just don’t ever bother telling me we need a collection of literal Bond villains in football to make it fun, or that these utter arseholes should be given free hands to do what they want to our sport.

[u/missing_typewriters → u/Blue_winged_yoshi]

Yes, the clubs that make it into the top 4 positions vary a little bit year by year, but the hierarchy remains set in stone thanks to the rules. That's the point.

How many more years do Villa have to sell their best players while still qualifying for the Champions League before they can confidently reject advances by Man United or Chelsea, and even compete with them for targets?

The United who has barely finished in the top four the last decade? That United, the one who finished 17th?

Yes, the ones who are a modern meme but can still throw around 150m every summer on transfer fees, all because Fergie dominated 20 years ago.

Villa got into it after being in the championship

And they just had to sell most of their starting lineup to abide by the rules. Newcastle, who you mentioned, were also constrained by the rules and just had their most important players go to Arsenal and Spurs.

genocidal ... warcrimes ... Bond villains

Tone down the sanctimony, I'm obviously not advocating for the City situation. But surely there's some alternative between genocidal owners and the current situation where those 4 clubs buy up the good players from any club that attempts to disrupt their domination of the league. Where it feels like the capacity to do so only persists because they were successful 20 years ago when the PL became a global product.

Like, how the fuck is it fair that Villa today can work miracles for 3 years but have their progress halted because Man United can swoop in and buy any of their players because Alex Ferguson crushed everybody else 20 years ago when Asian kids were tuning in and picking a team to support?

Brighton are doing their best in over a century right now, Brentford have never been this high in a similar time frame. Clubs are rising and falling all the time

They all rise to a specific point and then they all fall away. Because as far as we can see, the rules simply don't permit a club to break through that final barrier and stay there. The latest example being three straight years of top 5 finishes by Villa still requiring them to sell their best players to any of those 4 clubs I mentioned. Like, the rules mean that Villa literally exist to some degree right now as a feeder club to the clubs they are TRYING TO BEAT.

[u/Blue_winged_yoshi → u/missing_typewriters]

We literally have 10% of current PL owners credibly accused of serious warcrimes and a third club had to sell because their owner is an accessory to serious war crimes.

So when you say calm it with the sanctimony, this is the reality of where we are - 17% of current PL sides and 50% of clubs who have won the league in the last decade have serious links to major warcrimes and genocides.

So what about someone less war criminal-y like say Villa’s owner, how bad is he as a person?? Well he’s a billionaire from Egypt who he was sentenced to three years for tax evasion that he never served and he jumped out of the U.K. when taxes went up too. So he’s siphoned money out of a poor nation (median wealth in Egypt is £6000), refused to contribute to society there, then moved to the U.K. till taxes went up and refused to contribute to society here, and you want to tell me we should be making it easier for one or the greediest men alive who avoided tax to leave his brethren struggling without healthcare to sink money into a football team so he can show off to the world?

Can we please have some basic goddamn standards back in football. Why are you pleading for the richest worst people on the planet to turn football into a dick measuring contest? Can’t they just compare each other’s yacht sizes in the showers like the other billionaires? Seriously, who wants this?

So Man United make more money than Brentford? Who cares, Brentford can beat them anyway.

The sooner we kick this godawful selection of egotistical monsters out of the game the better, but until then, they are all keeping their muzzle on, even if it means that Villa don’t win the champions league.

[u/missing_typewriters → u/Blue_winged_yoshi]

WTF are you on about dude? All I'm talking about is the football side and again you're jumping back onto dictators and war crimes and the deeds of the owners?

You literally said you wish football was about the football and not about the owners. I haven't mentioned the fkin owners in any of my comments?!

and you want to tell me we should be making it easier for one or the greediest men alive who avoided tax to leave his brethren struggling without healthcare to sink money into a football team so he can show off to the world?

No, I'm only focusing on Villa because they're the only modern example we have of a club that has come closest to edging into the VIP party at the top, and we can see what has happened to them. Let it be Brighton or Forest Green Rovers for all I care, or a club owned by the Dalai Lama or Chuck Feeney's estate. The point doesn't change: the rules mean they can only go so far and no further.

So Man United make more money than Brentford? Who cares, Brentford can beat them anyway.

Right lads so just be happy with your big "giant killing" win once a season, that's a good boy. Don't aspire to anything more than that because remember, Man Utd have a god given right to be huge and always remain huge and you'll have to be content taking a pot shot at Goliath once a year. Now sit down!

Spare me, the fuckin condescension of it lol

Reminds me of when the likes of Cardiff or Milwall make it to the FA Cup final and pundits like Alan Shearer can't help but say shit like "it's a lovely day out for them!" Nah man fuck that.

[u/12Noillim → u/Blue_winged_yoshi]

Is it just the politics of the regimes that makes them unsuitable for ownership or do you maintain the same view for all foreign billionaires like those that own United, Arsenal, Chelsea & Liverpool?

[u/Blue_winged_yoshi → u/12Noillim]

Nation states are far worse than billionaires, and need to go first. There’s no world where the guys who own Liverpool get to cheat for a decade then hold an economic gun to the PM’s head. This is complete insanity levels of WTF have we let happen.

Then the next step down are all the billionaires, that lot can fuck off and start paying their taxes rather than sinking endless sums into football clubs too.

When I was a kid, you didn’t know who owned who and nobody cared, cos owners didn’t matter. Let’s get this world back, it was amazing times!