The Premier League’s conclusion that Manchester City “systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade” is a story that reaches well beyond the club itself, and Andy Burnham’s response to it has become a political story in its own right. Burnham was mayor of Greater Manchester until a matter of months ago and is now prime minister, which places him in the middle of the affair at a local, a national and a diplomatic level.
He was interviewed by BBC political editor Chris Mason on Wednesday, as the Labour Party conference concluded in Liverpool. Asked whether he was worried that Manchester City’s owners from the United Arab Emirates might sell up, Burnham said: “Well, I would be really concerned to lose them. They’ve been such a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester. Obviously, the building of Manchester City into the global force that it is.”
In the same answer he said he could not intervene more in the process, that it would be wrong to jump to a conclusion before studying all of the detail, and that because the case is still contested by Manchester City it was right that he did not say much more. Elsewhere in the interview he said, “I am not getting directly involved in the process,” and later, “I have to keep my distance from it.”
The impression left with many in football was that he was sympathetic to the club’s position — not least because he repeatedly compared the case to a far smaller row over his own club Everton’s finances a few years ago, a row that ended with Everton being docked Premier League points. Despite the gravity and breadth of what Manchester City now confront, Burnham offered no explicit criticism of the club. The Conservatives labelled his remarks “completely out of touch” and “extraordinary”.
By teatime on Thursday, Downing Street was back-pedalling. A written statement said the initial judgement was serious, that there could not be any suggestion that anyone is above the rules, that it is an ongoing independent process which must be allowed to run its course with the outcome respected, and that if wrongdoing is established those responsible should face the appropriate consequences.
That statement did not last long either. Attention immediately fell on the word “if” at the start of its second paragraph. The Premier League says Manchester City arranged “sham contracts” with a number of commercial partners as part of a scheme to disguise secret funding of almost a billion pounds; the club deny wrongdoing and are considering an appeal, but the Premier League’s conclusion is clear. A little over an hour later the statement was re-issued, with “if” replaced by “wherever” — visible evidence of Downing Street’s discomfort in real time.
The wider stakes are considerable. The rows touch Manchester, the Premier League and the UK’s global image, given that England’s top flight is a colossal global brand, and they carry a diplomatic dimension because arguments will rage over the extent to which City’s ownership is separate from the Abu Dhabi state, a major UK ally. Burnham will have expected to be asked about Manchester City; he did not expect sustained scrutiny on the subject, and the episode amounts to perhaps his biggest self-inflicted tangle since he arrived in Downing Street in July. It will not be the last time he faces questions about it.