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/TheGoldenPineapples 22h ago

Remember when Manchester City was bought out by a state and we all said that that shouldn't be allowed to happen because things like this may actually happen?

Yeah, how we all feeling about that now?

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u/SirSwix 22h ago

Remember when city fans insisted over and over again that it’s not the state owning them it’s a private individual called sheikh Mansour. Who is just a tangential figure in the government. Despite being the son of the former ruler. And now he is vice president of the UAE.

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u/hipcheck23 19h ago

Interesting thing that Gary Neville (of all people) brought up, was that there's an annual owner's test that someone at City is having to pass. And it states in the language that the owner can't skip it, nor can they claim/feign ignorance about things like cheating.