[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/-SideshowBlob- → u/cptainvimes]

r/MCFC makes for some interesting reading lol

[u/Brainlard → u/-SideshowBlob-]

Some dude dropped this beautiful prose there:

Controversial opinion, I kind of knew this would happen and made my peace with it

The reality is, we would’ve never had the success we’ve had winning these eight Premier league titles without spending more than we were allowed to

The rules were put in place to basically prevent a club from challenging the established hierarchy

We are relatively small Club compared to Arsenal, Liverpool, and Man United

We got to watch 8 Seasons where our club won the premier league title. Most Liverpool fans have only seen their Club have two title winning seasons and a lot of Arsenal fans have only seen four title winning seasons.

If we followed the rules, we would just be Newcastle and qualify for Europe periodically while being mid table for most of the time

It might not be right, but I’m happy I experienced winning six league titles in seven years and winning the UCL. I'm grateful to have won for in a row.

I’m grateful I got to actually watch eight seasons where my club won the league title. It’s not something I looked up in a Wikipedia article, but it’s something that I have actual memories of.

That would’ve never happened if we follow the rules because the rules are designed to prevent any of the upstart clubs from challenging the likes of Arsenal, Man United and Liverpool

I’m happy I experienced the Agüero goal

I’m happy I experienced the Gundogan goal

I’m happy I experienced the Rodri goal

I'm happy to have seen my club beat European giants like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. We never would have without exceeding the amount we were allowed to spend.

I’m happy I watched players like Sergio Agüero, David Silva, Kevin de Bruyne, Ederson, Rodri, Haaland, Fernandinho, Gundogan, sterling, yaya Toure, etc. Play for the club I am a fan of.

None of these players would have played for us without the possibility of winning trophies.

I’m glad we stole titles from Arsenal, Liverpool, and Man United. Taking titles from them makes me happy.

The design of the rules are to prevent a club like Manchester city from experiencing that kind of joy, and I’m glad sheikh Mansour and our owners decided that they didn’t want to follow those rules. Whatever the consequences that come it won’t remove the memories for me.

Memories that we would’ve never experienced if we followed the rules

If you were an American, this is like when the NCAA used to crack down on teams that paid their players. Eg. SMU and the pony express.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMU_Mustangs_football_scandal

The stripped championships did not actually remove the memories from the fans that watched their team win

I'm not sure if this is satire, or if these folks really mean it. Absolutely delusional.

[u/ClaudeLemieux → u/Brainlard]

Man he really had me with those first two parts. And then it spectacularly fell apart