Burnham to publish records of meetings with Manchester City following guilty verdict
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on 11 October 2026 he will release details of his meetings with senior figures at Manchester City after coming under criticism for comments made in the wake of the club being found guilty of all charges over breaches of the Premier League's financial rules. He told the Rest is Politics podcast he would make the records public.
An independent commission found City had broken rules over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018 by creating "sham" contracts with commercial partners to secretly funnel more than £830m into their football operations. The commission held a 42-day hearing in 2024 which led to the verdict announced last month, and the entire process involving the charges is independent of the Premier League.
Burnham, an Everton supporter, said his previous role as mayor of Greater Manchester had prompted questions about his relationship with City's Abu Dhabi ownership, and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch asked No 10 to publish all details of meetings between the prime minister and senior figures at the club. On the Rest is Politics podcast he said: "I've been asked by the leader of the opposition to publish details of my meetings, which I'm happy to do and I'm going to," and added: "I will quite clearly put out there everything that I have done working with them in my previous role as Mayor of Greater Manchester."
On the podcast Burnham also sought to place his comments in context, saying: "None of it is recent, actually, in terms of the meetings I had. I only had one significant meeting, actually, and that was in 2021." He had earlier told the BBC he would be "really concerned" if Manchester City's owners decided to sell up following the guilty verdict and later denied his reaction had "downplayed the seriousness of the findings".
Responding to the controversy, sources told BBC Sport some Premier League clubs were so "astonished" by Burnham's stance that they were "concerned" about political interference in the appeal process. Sanctions are yet to be announced and City have lodged an appeal against the verdict; the club returned to action when they played at Liverpool on Sunday, winning 3-0.
Burnham served as mayor of Manchester from 2017 until earlier this year and his tenure took place during a sustained period of success for City. As mayor, he championed investment from the Gulf as a way of growing Manchester's economy, a strategy the article says was initially pursued by the city's leaders before Burnham became the inaugural elected mayor of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
The commission's report stated that "a number of important club witnesses gave false evidence in key respects and that some knowingly gave untrue and dishonest evidence." The club continues to deny any wrongdoing.
A separate independent appeal board will hear City's appeal, and the commission found City guilty of all charges except one relating to non-cooperation with the Premier League investigation.
