Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak met with a senior UK government official just days before the club were found guilty of 114 financial breaches, according to reports.
Many of the breaches took place under Al Mubarak's leadership, given that he was appointed chairman in 2013 and the charging period was between 2009 and 2018, although he has been involved with the club for a total of 18 years.
Sham contracts and secret funding
Among other infringements, City were found to have arranged "sham" contracts with commercial partners as part of a scheme to disguise over £830million in secret funding. The independent commission responsible for the investigation also found that City failed to cooperate to the fullest extent, instead making "concerted efforts to stop and frustrate" the process.
The guilty verdict was initially reported last weekend before it was officially confirmed by the Premier League on Tuesday. Now, it has emerged that just days earlier, Al Mubarak travelled to Downing Street for a meeting with business secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
Meeting with business secretary
According to Bloomberg, Al Mubarak attended the private meeting in his capacity as chief executive of Mubadala Investment Company, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund. The pair reportedly spoke about current and future Emirati investment in Britain, covering the full range of the relationship including defence, security, intelligence and trade.
The meeting is said to have taken place on September 14, just over a fortnight before the Premier League announced that City had been found guilty.
Diplomatic immunity and appeal
It was recently reported by The Independent that Al Mubarak carries diplomatic immunity, which could complicate any legal action in the aftermath of the City scandal. He was added to the UK's list of approved diplomats in 2020.
The club submitted an appeal on Thursday and could take the case to the High Court if the guilty verdict is upheld. However, they will be unable to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), given that the rules stipulate that any dispute must be settled in England and Wales. CAS is based in Switzerland, meaning it has no authority to intervene in regulatory decisions concerning the Premier League.
In a statement confirming their appeal had been lodged, City said: "The club's firm position is that, on multiple grounds, the opinion [the guilty verdict] contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe.
"The club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case.
"We will continue to respect due process and are necessarily restricted in what we can say further until all proceedings are complete."
