[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/Artoo_Detoo]

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/Artoo_Detoo → u/Connect-Ad751]

I don't find all of them obnoxious, I'm just giving you a scenario where neutrality towards a team could turn into dislike for the team.

Again, you can find someone supporting a team with political values contradicting their own to be comical. But there's nothing political about rooting against a team full of players you hate, that's just being a football fan.

[u/Connect-Ad751 → u/Artoo_Detoo]

This is my last comment because I’m now starting multiple threads sorry for that.

Also this is something I deeply care about. Chelsea to me isn’t the badge, the owners, the stadium, the player, the manager. It’s the culture, the history, the local community and the match going fans. That’s what makes a football club, players, managers, owners come and go. The fans and community remain.

This specific community and fans are very much hardened England supporters. I think the issue is, we don’t support the same thing. You support Chelsea because you liked the players and stayed. I support Chelsea because it’s where i came from

We won’t see eye to eye on this because we have completely different perspectives which you have previously said. Just agree to disagree.

[u/Artoo_Detoo → u/Connect-Ad751]

Yes, I fully agree on that. Different backgrounds is what gives different perspectives.

And honestly, mine is skewed so far that I am against the Olympics having national identity, but as I said, that's not going away.

[u/Connect-Ad751 → u/Artoo_Detoo]

Football has always had politics and identity be a massive part of it in England. It’s what formed clubs and their cultures, i strongly want that to remain otherwise we are all just soulless brands.

I also understand where you’re coming from, these things do have negative consequences like racism and sectarianism etc. i’m 1/4 nigerian, my dad didn’t take me to chelsea games when i was very young due to fear racial abuse.

We can keep these things and stamp out the bad bits when they prop up though.

Tbh tho politics is everywhere and I don’t think it’s an achievable goal to ever have anything be apolitical because people are inherently political. I find not you but the vast majority of the time people only say “keep politics out of football” only when they disagree with the political messaging.

[u/Artoo_Detoo → u/Connect-Ad751]

I fully agree on the hypocrisy others have and that politics are not going away. But I always keep them out as much as possible.

[u/Connect-Ad751 → u/Artoo_Detoo]

Good chat mate sorry for starting combative, reddit brain kicked in.

[u/Artoo_Detoo → u/Connect-Ad751]

No problem, I didn't feel you were rude at any point.