Manchester City case: UAE threaten to pull billions from UK, says The Telegraph

The Manchester City case has become a matter between two states. According to The Telegraph, the UAE have threatened to pull part of their investment out of the UK if the club are sanctioned, starting with several billion pounds committed to the Oxford-Cambridge project.

Downing Street has not denied the threat. Prime minister Andy Burnham’s office admits the verdict has “cut” the Emirati appetite, and it clarified twice on Thursday the position of a prime minister “really worried” about a forced sale of the club. The Lib Dems are demanding publication of the government’s meetings with ADUG and the hospitality received at the Etihad.

The ties were there before the verdict: according to Bloomberg, relayed by The Guardian, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the City chairman who also runs Mubadala, met the secretary of state Jonathan Reynolds in private on 14 September at Downing Street.

114 of 115 charges proven, titles at stake and an appeal already lodged

Manchester City, owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan of the Emirati royal family, have been found guilty of 114 of 115 breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules: income inflated, costs understated, more than £900m of fraud between 2009 and 2018. No date has been set for the sanction; at worst, titles stripped and exclusion from the league.

City have already lodged a “full” appeal, claiming innocence and citing material, legal and factual errors; the hearing will sit in private. On Friday the Football Association broke its silence, warning of “major consequences for the integrity of the game” and promising to take whatever measures are called for.

In The Telegraph, Jamie Carragher had already demanded the titles be stripped on 30 September, calling for a punishment severe enough to give the rules meaning, set a precedent and deter future owners.

“A big subject”: Tuchel’s England head to Rijeka

Thomas Tuchel was preparing England for tonight’s game against Croatia at Rijeka’s Stadion Rujevica, in the Nations League (5pm UK time). “It’s a big subject … everyone speaks about it,” he said on Friday. “Of course the players talk about it, of course the Man City players, and we talk with them but only briefly.” He would not rule out picking City players even in the Championship; Nico O’Reilly, the club’s left-back, has left the camp injured.

The market has already moved: the best price on an England win has come in from 2.12 at opening to 1.80 this morning at Betano. Our full reading of the match and the specialist’s pick are in our Croatia vs England prediction; our coverage of the verdict is in yesterday’s piece. 18+. Only bet what you can afford to lose.