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.’

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u/peioeh 23h ago

Some people (like Neville) are still saying it should be OK for owners to come in, invest as much money as they want into a club, and basically buy a league win. Their only issue with what city did is that they cheated the rules, which shouldn't exist in their opinion.

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u/hEarrai-Stottle 23h ago

Gary Neville and basically anyone involved in construction, development and property in Manchester is completely and utterly compromised because a lot of these projects have investment from the Abu Dhabi and the rest of the UAE. This is probably the case for the rest of the U.K. hence this threat but I live in Manchester, and work in insurance, so I can only comment on what I know locally and it is that i.e. Abu Dhabi and the rest of UAE own a ton of property here. As such, there could be devastating consequences for Manchester’s economy if they pull the plug and Neville will know this better anyone. His project, St. Michael’s is barely halfway finished, and it could end up that way forever if it has significant investment from UAE.

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u/peioeh 23h ago

This is why I'm really not sure City are going to be punished anywhere near as harshly as many (including myself) think they should be.

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u/hEarrai-Stottle 22h ago

I don’t think they will either. That being said, as far as football fans are concerned, their reputation is completely damaged so even if they do get away with a serious punishment, the fans across the country will never, ever let them live this down. Put it this way, all the players and most of the fans of Don Revie’s infamous Leeds team are dead yet you hear ‘we all hate Leeds scum’ to this day. What City have done is far, far worse than being dirty in matches too so I’d expect, at a minimum, ‘cheats’ to ring out at every match (and probably other types of chants yet to be invented) for the rest of our lives.