The Greater Manchester Combined Authority has issued a statement on Andy Burnham's dealings with Manchester City's owners after the Prime Minister said he would publish all details of his meetings with the club.
At the end of September, Manchester City were found guilty of breaching 115 Premier League financial regulations between 2009 and 2018. The club has maintained its innocence and appealed against the verdict.
Findings of the independent commission
The Premier League said an independent commission found City arranged “sham” commercial deals with a number of its sponsors during the period, which were part of a disguised funding scheme, whereby those companies were required to pay only a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The commission found that the remainder was funded by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd, which majority-owned the club. Manchester City denies the allegations.
Prime Minister's comments and clarification
In comments that drew considerable criticism, Mr Burnham said that he would be “really concerned” if City’s Abu Dhabi owners sold the club in the wake of the finding, crediting them with being “a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester”.
Downing Street sought to clarify his comments afterwards, saying the Prime Minister was clear the judgment is serious and that wherever wrongdoing is established, those responsible should face the consequences.
Leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch put pressure on Mr Burnham to publish 'everything' relating to his work with the club during his tenure as Greater Manchester mayor. Speaking on the Rest is Politics podcast, he said he was 'happy' to publish details of the meetings.
Statement from GMCA
Now, a spokesperson for GMCA, of which former council leader Bev Craig is now leader as Greater Manchester mayor, has issued a statement clarifying the details of the contact between the former Mayor and the Abu Dhabi-owned club.
A spokesperson said: "In October 2021 Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
"In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
"Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
"This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan."
