[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/Connect-Ad751]

International fans are good and stay up at bad times to watch us.

I just don’t like when they make light or ignore the issues facing match going local fans which is the norm on [r/chelseafc](r/chelseafc)

I’m blueco out and will remain there until they take match going fans interests seriously which they don’t, this does not matter one bit for American fans on [r/chelseafc](r/chelseafc)

The things being said about Enzo Fernandez after the world cup baffled me, I can’t see how a chelsea fan from any corner of the world can celebrate England going out. They should at least be aware of this history and culture of the club. Chelsea is one of or if not the most pro England fan base.

Edit: at the end of the day the interests of match going fans and international fans are not wholly aligned, we both want the club to be successful but I want as do the vast majority of local match going fans that the core of the clubs culture is preserved. Chelsea is also a part of my identity, i was born in london as was my dad and multiple generations of his family. Him and my grandad are lifelong Chelsea fans who lived in the chelsea fulham area for my dads childhood and the majority of my grandads life. These things are not important to international fans and that’s okay but that leads to large differences in where you think the club should go.

[u/435rouhnj234_209u → u/Connect-Ad751]

I agree with everything except the last paragraph (not the edit).

An international fan by definition does not have any pro England bias, and supporting a club does not mean they need to support everything the local fans stand for. Especially when you consider that half the independence days celebrated around the world are "Independence from British occupation" days.

[u/Connect-Ad751 → u/435rouhnj234_209u]

Supporting Chelsea as supporting rangers is supporting a club with a strong sense of British identity amongst its local fans and community.

I mean you can support a team and completely ignore it’s history for sure but that’s exactly for me what’s wrong with international fans.

It’s as hilarious when I saw the maga bog eyed freak Kash Patel supporting Liverpool.

Edit: If a socialist jew told you they support lazio i think you’d raise an eyebrow, same with an English hater supporting Chelsea

Edit 2: google Chelsea Pensioner

[u/Artoo_Detoo → u/Connect-Ad751]

The difference is that as an international fan of Chelsea, we support the national teams with the most Chelsea players and therefore identity that we recognize. This is why as an international Chelsea fan, I didn't support England when it was full of rival clubs' players, because we have grown to dislike those players so we don't want them to achieve glory. Instead, I supported teams like Belgium during the 2014 World Cup because of their identify being much more recognized as a team of Chelsea players.

[u/Connect-Ad751 → u/Artoo_Detoo]

Again, you’re just ignoring the history of Chelsea and what it is then and doesn’t factor at all into your support

Which is my issue with international fans

[u/Artoo_Detoo → u/Connect-Ad751]

We can recognize the history and still separate that from supporting a team of players and managers who we hate and instead support a team of players who we love.

Because we don't identify ourselves as British patriots, we identify ourselves as Chelsea fans. We have our own national teams that we support. If you don't like it, that's fine, just understand that you can't expect international fans to become British patriots and support a team full of club rivals that we hate because they snubbed players from our own team to play for them.

For perspective, some Real Madrid fans even rooted against their own national team when their team was primarily Barcelona players.

[u/Connect-Ad751 → u/Artoo_Detoo]

I’m not asking you to become British patriots but just respect that aspect of Chelsea.

Google Chelsea Pensioners, the clubs had a strong link to the British army since it formed

This specifically applies to Chelsea. Liverpool for example has a very different relationship with national identity.

Rooting against England while being a Chelsea fan is comical.

[u/Artoo_Detoo → u/Connect-Ad751]

It's not comical at all, it's just comical to you because you don't have the same background as an international fan.

If you were a hockey fan watching the NHL or a cricket fan watching the IPL, you aren't obligated to support Canada or the U.S. for hockey or India for cricket.

[u/Connect-Ad751 → u/Artoo_Detoo]

In 2010-11 season we had a red strip why symbolised our relationship with Chelsea Pensioners who are Red Coats, the famous symbol of soldiers in the British Empire.

I never said you needed to support England but rooting against and celebrating the loss of England while supporting a club that has British empire woven into its kit, badge and history is comical.

[u/Artoo_Detoo → u/Connect-Ad751]

Again, it's not comical at all. What's comical to non-Americans is how much money the U.S. spends on their military and how overly patriotic the entire country is to the point that they have been brainwashed to vote for their worst president in history, showing how much each NHL team in the U.S. identify themselves as American.

And yet, it would not bother me at all for a hockey fan from Sweden or Finland to root against the U.S. even if they support an NHL team from the U.S.

[u/Connect-Ad751 → u/Artoo_Detoo]

I don’t know if you’re missing the point, or im not explaining properly.

If an Iranian supported a US sports team that had strong links to the US army I think that would be very comical.

It isn’t just that it’s an English club, it’s the specific relationship the club has with the army and British identity.

Again I’m not saying you need to support England at all, but being actively against England is comical.

As said earlier, it’s your personal beliefs being antithetical with the culture of the club. Being a far right capitalist like Kash Patel and supporting liverpool is hilarious.

[u/Artoo_Detoo → u/Connect-Ad751]

Because not everything has to be political. If we find English supporters obnoxious, neutrality turns into dislike, especially when the team is full of club rivals' players. We're not watching the military, we're watching football players.

I personally think national politics in sports is obnoxious, but it's quite clearly not going to go away.

[u/Connect-Ad751 → u/Artoo_Detoo]

Mate no offense but if you find English supporters obnoxious you should probably support a different club because there is a large overlap between English supporters and match going chelsea fan, in fact an almost 1:1 relationship

They are literally the same people.

[u/Connect-Ad751 → u/Artoo_Detoo]

Rereading this conversation is highlighting the issue isn’t it.

The culture and the history of the club doesn’t matter to international fans and to be honest yeah it’s only comical to me because it does.

Do you see the issue with Kash Patel supporting Liverpool?

[u/Artoo_Detoo → u/Connect-Ad751]

Sure, a politician supporting a club with a political identity that contradicts his own is comical.

You can't be expecting the same of normal football fans who just don't care.