Lib Dems call on Burnham to come clean on Man City meetings and freebies

EMBARGO: Immediate Release 

Lib Dems call on Burnham to come clean on Man City meetings and freebies

The Liberal Democrats are today demanding Andy Burnham immediately publish the minutes of any meetings he has had with the City Football Group, Abu Dhabi United Group or UAE Government representatives, about the club or investment in Manchester, including those from during his time as Mayor for Greater Manchester.

The party has also written to the Prime Minister to directly ask him to release the minutes of the meetings and declare all hospitality gifts received from owners of Manchester City.

Anna Sabine MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Culture Media and Sport, said:

"Football fans up and down the country deserve to know that the rules apply to everyone, however rich and powerful they are.

"When the Prime Minister leaps to the defence of a club's owners within hours of a verdict, people are entitled to ask what their relationship is.

"Andy Burnham must come clean and publish details of every meeting and conversation he has had with City Football Group, Abu Dhabi United Group or UAE government representatives, going back to his time as Mayor - and that includes any hospitality freebies received.”                          

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

First reported in The Guardian here.

The text of letter to the Prime Minister is below: 

Dear Prime Minister,   

I am writing as the Liberal Democrat Digital, Culture, Media and Sports Spokesperson to express our deep concern about your response to the reported findings against Manchester City Football Club, and to ask you to publish, immediately, the minutes of every meeting you have had with City Football Group, Abu Dhabi United Group or the UAE Government representatives about the club or investment in the city, as well as any hospitality received from these organisations, from your time as Mayor of Greater Manchester.  

As you will know, an independent commission has found Manchester City guilty of 114 charges of breaching financial rules over a timeframe of nearly a decade, including the use of “sham contracts" and schemes to disguise more than £830 million of funding. Despite this, your response was to thank the club’s owners for their work and describe the findings as “contested” and that it was “wrong to jump to a conclusion”. It is extraordinary that a Prime Minister would use his position to call into question the findings of the independent investigation, and risk undermining trust in the Premier League’s processes. 

This has been a difficult year for football's reputation. FIFA's conduct around the World Cup has already raised serious questions about integrity in the game we love. At a moment like this, fans expect their Prime Minister to stand up for the rules in place, not to appear to side with a club found guilty of breaking them. 

Football fans up and down the country deserve to know that the rules apply to everyone, however rich and powerful they are. You are the Prime Minister for the whole country, not just Manchester, and this is an opportunity for you to show that your priority is the integrity of English football, not just one club.  

I look forward to your reply. 

Kind regards, 

Anna Sabine