Man City guilty: Prime Minister Andy Burnham labelled “tone deaf” after “concerned” comments on Abu Dhabi owners

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been labelled “tone deaf” following his “staggering” comments about Manchester City’s owners and their 114 Premier League financial rule breach.

It was confirmed earlier this week by the Premier League that Man City have been found guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the league’s financial rules and the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the investigation.

A damning document released by England’s top division accused the Citizens of using "sham" contracts to disguise over £900m in secret funding and artificially inflate revenues between 2009 and 2018.

Man City "systematically broke Premier League rules for nearly a decade” in the view of Premier League CEO Richard Masters, but the Citizens remain firm on their stance that they are “innocent” and there is “irrefutable evidence” to clear their name.

The eight-time Premier League champions have until Friday, October 2 to submit an appeal which they intend to do.

PM Burnham “would be really concerned to lose” Man City owners

Since September 2008, Man City have been owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group who are led by Sheikh Mansour, United Arab Emirates deputy prime minister and royal family member.

Following Man City’s guilty verdict, Independent Football Regulator David Kogan has said that "The IFR has powers to assess the suitability of owners, directors and executives and we will use these powers where appropriate, in the interests of protecting the sustainability, honesty and integrity of English football where there is clear evidence of wrongdoing by individuals.

"This includes taking account of findings made by the Leagues. However, as the proceedings remain ongoing between Manchester City and the Premier League we will await further developments. We hope it can be resolved quickly for the sake of fans."

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has called for Man City’s owners to be removed from their position, but Burnham would be “concerned” if they were to leave the Premier League and the city of Manchester for good.

Asked by the BBC if he was concerned that Man City's owners could sell the club, Burnham said: "I would be really concerned to lose them.

"They've been such a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester and obviously the building of Manchester City into the global force that it is."

The Prime Minister added: "I do actually thank the City Football Group and the wider ownership for the money that they didn't just put into the Etihad [Stadium] and the campus around it but also into the city".

Burnham went on to acknowledge that it would be wrong for him to intervene when the legal process is still ongoing, but he accepted that there was "a lot at stake" for Man City supporters, the club and Manchester itself.

Burnham is “tone deaf”, his comments are "staggering"

In response to Burnham’s comments, former Premier League footballer Stan Collymore has branded the Prime Minister as "tone deaf", with his "clunky" comments an example of the power of “sportswashing”.

A post on X read: “Like Andy Burnham a lot but his comments around City ownership and not wanting to lose them is tone deaf and only fuels the fire that journalists will use and already are to prove some sort of nefarious relationship between him and City's owners, something incredibly unhelpful after a speech about doing politics differently and genuinely having people like me thinking about voting Labour again.

“For a PM, the day after a judgement by a respected panel to say 'we can't afford to lose City Group, they've put a lot into Manchester' is missing the point so widely that he's now going to be tagged as taking a side or grossly naïve… Neither things people will readily vote for.”

Meanwhile Green Party deputy leader Mothin Ali said: “Andy Burnham's comments are staggering, just one day after saying people should come before profit, he sides with big money over the integrity of a sport that belongs to the people.

“It's a shame the Prime Minister appears to agree there should be one rule for the rich and one for everyone else.”

A football supporter also took to X to share his views, saying: “Absolutely disgusting statement from the PM. He's basically saying you can cheat the system all you want if you pay enough. Just shows what sort of morals he really has”.

Burnham, a proud Everton fan, was talking to the media about Man City after delivering his first speech to the Labour conference as party leader and Prime Minister.