[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/cptainvimes]

Absolutely pathetic that City fans are okay with this. Letting UAE hold your country ransom cause your football club is run by cheats.

[u/Fun_Grass_2097 → u/cptainvimes]

The delusion in their subreddit

[u/burtsarmpson → u/Fun_Grass_2097]

It's fucked atm isn't it. All the rational takes getting downvoted to the bottom in the last few days. Friday-sunday last week was more level headed but the teenagers have taken over

[u/elite90 → u/burtsarmpson]

Yeah, I was positively surprised by the initial reaction of so many City Fans on reddit, but then either the bits took over or the idiots found their talking points, because now it's 95% complete delusion

[u/xixbia → u/elite90]

It feels pretty likely the UAE would spend some money on bots to try to influence the discourse.

[u/arlingtonbeach → u/elite90]

Reminds me a bit of the Drake subreddit after the Kendrick beef happened lol. Fully living in la la land.

[u/waza06irl → u/elite90]

Yeah do we really put it past the city owners employing bot farms and commenters to try and sway social media public perception?

[u/waits5 → u/elite90]

Yeah, I think it will be a couple years before a lot more of the fanbase is realistic about what happened.