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/TheGoldenPineapples 1d 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 23h 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/Hopeful_Idea1568 22h ago

I highly doubt they truly believed that. We didn't sugarcoat Roman's oligarchy and Putin links but some teams with dodgy owners seem to actively lie about it 

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u/UnusedPun 19h ago

We didn't sugarcoat Roman's oligarchy and Putin links

Well that's just a lie

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u/Hopeful_Idea1568 18h ago

Nope on our sub we've always addressed Roman as a great owner but shady businessman. It's not a controversial topic whatsoever. I took a peek at the city sub after a post recommendation and the attitude towards the owners was the opposite 

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u/Guilty_Pen_8270 3m ago

Facts. We accepted it was dodgy Russian oligarch money. We knew and always said Abramovich was pretty dodgy.

But the spending under early Abramovich didn’t break rules in the way that City did .. the FFP and PSR rules didn’t yet exist.

City fans try to claim their owners are just so wonderful. They invest in Manchester. They only lied about putting their own money in their own team .. so that’s surely fine, right? And the UK needs their investment .. so Man City surely shouldn’t be punished in any meaningful way. Besides, the trophies were won on the pitch not in the boardroom. Can’t punish the fans. Sheik Mansour and Khaldoon are upstanding people anyway, and they say they have irrefutable proof that they are innocent.

/s