Manchester City being found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules reportedly threatens North West England's chances of hosting the 2040 Summer Olympic Games. Andy Burnham said last year, while still the Mayor of Greater Manchester, that London should "definitely not" ask to host a second Olympics this century and suggested the North West instead.
City's charges could tarnish regional bid
It is now claimed that any bid from the region could already be tarnished by City's charges, which they have appealed to the chair of an independent judicial panel, Sir Gary Hickinbottom, the Premier League has established. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) are expected to decide who will host the 2040 Games in 2033, as they have yet to elect the 2036 host city, which will happen in 2029, the year after Los Angeles 2028 and three years before Brisbane 2032.
The Daily Mail report that City's guilty verdict 'threatens' hopes that Manchester would be central to a North West bid, according to Olympic insiders. Burnham has also apparently been warned by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that they would retaliate against the decision by not investing billions of pounds in the Oxford-Cambridge Corridor project, as reported by The Telegraph.
Burnham backs North West proposal
Before becoming Prime Minister this summer, he publicly backed a North West bid for the Olympics on BBC Radio Manchester last year, saying: "It's a good idea". The University of Liverpool's Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place first proposed the idea, claiming it could be 'a unifying flagship program' for both cities and 'levelling up made real'.
Burnham said last November: "I like it. I hear London is asking for another go, but definitely not; the country couldn't give London a second Olympics. You look at our facilities, and they're second-to-none across the North West. If the Government really wants to rebalance the country, this could be the way to do it. I'm in."
Northern leaders call for government backing
He was also part of The Great North, the United Kingdom's mayoral-led collaboration established by northern leaders, when they wrote a letter to the secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport Lisa Nandy, in February, calling on the Government to pledge to back any future bids based in the north.
Burnham said at the time that it would be "a defining moment for the North and we are confident our bid would make for a compelling proposition". He added: "For Greater Manchester, the 2002 Commonwealth Games marked a real turning point. It sparked transformative regeneration and economic growth, changing how people felt about our city region and how the world viewed us."
"An Olympic and Paralympic Games would deliver a similar impact on a much bigger scale, through long-term investment which transforms our region and leaves a legacy far beyond the Games."
