By Brendan Scott | Updated on Oct 08, 2026 at 05:09 PM
Andy Burnham said the Premier League case against Manchester City should be “fully independent,” after the British prime minister faced criticism about earlier remarks that appeared to signal support for the football club’s UAE-based owners.
Burnham said he had been speaking about wider investment by the UAE, which has poured more than £30 billion ($39.7 billion) into major UK sectors, including defense, life sciences and technology, and wasn’t commenting on finance rule breaches by the club. The prime minister was asked about to a BBC report earlier Thursday that said some Premier League owners feared political inference in the appeal process.
“It’s important to separate the football issues from wider investment,” Burnham told broadcasters during an official visit to Berlin. “The football issues have to be looked at fully, and that is without question. And obviously, the process then allowed to run its course without further wider comment being made.”
In a seismic judgment last month, Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City was found guilty of all but one of 115 charges brought against it by the Premier League after a four-year investigation. The club artificially inflated its financial results by more than £900 million, according to the findings of an independent commission. Potential punishments include a points deduction, heavy fines or even expulsion from the Premier League.
Burnham, who was mayor of Manchester from 2017 to 2026, during a period of success for the Premier League club, has come under fire for appearing to intervene in the case in an interview last week. Among other things, he said he would be “really concerned” if Manchester City’s owners had to sell.
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The prime minister’s remarks have caused concern among senior lawmakers and foreign office officials because they appear to clash with recent laws that ban politicians influencing such cases against football clubs, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. His latest remarks appeared to be an attempt to walk back that assertion.
“I haven’t downplayed the seriousness of the findings,” Burnham said. “They are findings that need to be considered with great care and seriousness, and then the process that considers them needs to be fully independent.
“I think it’s incumbent on everybody now to let the process run its course,” he said.
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