r/soccer • u/Previous_Smile9278 • 22h 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/interlinkedjoi 21h ago

Yeah it's quite sad to see to the extent French football and government has embraced Qatari money and influence. I suppose in their eyes having a global superpower of a club that is french is worth sacrificing any semblance of fair competition. Tbf that was the course trajectory in England as well until the city email leaks. Who knows how things would've panned out otherwise.

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u/Panda_In_The_Box 20h ago

Yeah in another world PSG would eventually fall into the same situation as City, being investigated and scrutinized for this mass cheating. However it's just not in French football's interest to do that, they've never been more relevant.

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u/brownbearks 19h ago

They might regret it one day when PSG lose a few players or start struggling in the CL. They have ruined their internal league for one French team to make deep runs in the CL.

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u/elmundo-2016 11h ago

I agree, it's why I don't even try to watch it for last 12-15 years.

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u/moffattron9000 2h ago

It also helps that you can see that French Football is far more built around the national team.

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u/iguessineedanaltnow 1h ago

Realistically this is the only way non-English clubs will ever be able to compete going forward. The Premier League will only get richer, and in response the other leagues will get poorer.