Andy Burnham has said he will publish all of his dealings with Manchester City in his role as Greater Manchester mayor. The move follows a request from Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and comes after the club was found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules.
Burnham confirms disclosure plans
Mr Burnham confirmed he would "put out there" all his work with the club's ownership as mayor during an interview with the Rest is Politics podcast due for release on Monday. He maintained that "the football issues are different from the investment issues".
He added: "But I see now people trying to conflate these things. I've been asked by the leader of the opposition to publish details of my meetings, which I'm happy to do. I will quite clearly put out there everything that I have done working with them in my previous role as mayor of Greater Manchester."
Details of meetings revealed
Mr Burnham noted that none of his meetings with the club were recent, stating: "I only had one significant meeting, actually, and that was in 2021. That is right and I will put that all out there."
He added: "But the football issues, they are serious and have to be dealt with, and the process is independent and it has to run its course. But I think everybody should separate the investment issues because they're not the same thing."
Background to the ruling
Manchester City, who returned to Premier League action on October 11 with a 3-0 win over Liverpool, were ruled guilty at the end of September of violating 115 Premier League financial rules between 2009 and 2018. The club has consistently protested its innocence and lodged an appeal against the ruling.
The Premier League stated that an independent commission determined City orchestrated "sham" commercial arrangements with several of its sponsors throughout the timeframe, forming part of a concealed funding operation in which those firms were obliged to pay only a fraction of the relevant sponsorship sums. The commission established that the balance was financed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan's Abu Dhabi United Group Investment and Development Ltd, which held a majority stake in the club.
Political pressure mounts
Shadow sports minister Louie French demanded Mr Burnham should likewise "come clean" regarding any encounters since assuming the role of Prime Minister and pressed Sport Secretary Lisa Nandy to address queries. Mr French said: "The Prime Minister must publish every contact between his ministers, officials and Manchester City since he walked into Number 10, the Prime Minister must also explain why he inappropriately intervened in this case, and Lisa Nandy must answer the questions I have put to her in full."
