Burnham says he would be "really concerned" if Manchester City owners sell after guilty verdict

Andy Burnham said he would be "really concerned" if Manchester City's owners decided to sell the club after an independent commission found the club guilty of Premier League financial rule breaches, speaking on 30 September 2026 from Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool. The comments followed the commission's ruling against City and the club's expectation that it will appeal the verdict.

The independent panel concluded City were guilty of the majority of the 115 charges brought against them, a finding the club continue to contest. Manchester City are expected to lodge an appeal and the club maintain they did nothing wrong. The case has also attracted scrutiny from the Independent Football Regulator, established by government in 2025.

The commission found that City arranged what it described as "sham contracts" with multiple commercial partners to disguise secret funding totalling more than £830m. The Premier League said City "systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade" in its response to the commission's findings. City have said they are "both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission" and continue to deny the accusations.

Possible sanctions will be decided at a separate hearing convened by the independent panel; the process to determine punishment could take months. The range of penalties under consideration includes a large fine, a deduction of points, expulsion from the Premier League or being stripped of the eight trophies won in the affected period. The club can appeal both the guilty verdicts and any sanction, a prospect that the article described as leaving City and the league in "a state of chaos and uncertainty".

Asked by the BBC's political editor Chris Mason whether he was worried the owners might sell, Burnham replied: "I would be really concerned to lose them." He praised the ownership since 2008, led by Sheikh Mansour, United Arab Emirates deputy prime minister and royal family member, for investing in Manchester and said: "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."

Burnham, who served as mayor of Greater Manchester until June, also thanked the City Football Group and ownership for local investment, saying: "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" and that he was "of course" confident his own interactions with the owners would stand up to scrutiny. He compared the reaction to City's case with his past defence of Everton after their financial breaches, recalling: "Everton was in this position a few years ago and you might remember that I fought for Everton in that situation because I still hold the view very firmly that they weren't fairly treated in that process." He added: "I remember people proclaiming Everton guilty at the time and with hindsight I think more people would say that wasn't fair, the way that was handled. So it would be wrong of me to leap to one side given the experience that I'd had before becoming prime minister."

The Independent Football Regulator said the case had raised "serious issues" and indicated it would explore options, including whether to strip the owners of their licence to own the club, once the disciplinary process is complete. Some fans and pundits have questioned how the ownership could continue if deliberate rule-breaking over nine years were proven.

The independent panel will hold a sanctions hearing, a process that could take months to convene, to decide any punishment; City can appeal both the verdicts and any sanction and have until 2 October to submit an appeal.