Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak met a senior United Kingdom government minister to discuss United Arab Emirates investment just 11 days before the club was found guilty of financial wrongdoing.
Bloomberg claims that Al Mubarak held a private meeting with Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds in Downing Street on September 14.
However, the meeting was held in Al Mubarak’s separate capacity as chief executive of Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, rather than as City chairman.
The discussions reportedly covered existing and potential UAE investment in the UK, alongside the wider relationship between the two countries.
Defence, security, intelligence and trade were among the subjects discussed. There is no suggestion that Manchester City’s Premier League case formed part of the meeting.
Its timing looks suspicious following the publication of the independent commission’s findings against the Premier League club.
City were found guilty of almost all the charges they faced. The club used ‘sham’ commercial arrangements to artificially inflate revenue and reduce costs.
They also filed misstated accounts and significantly breached Premier League and UEFA spending limits.
The commission also found that City committed multiple breaches of its obligation to cooperate with the Premier League investigation.
The club have consistently denied wrongdoing and on Thursday evening formally lodged what they described as a ‘comprehensive appeal’ against the findings.
City maintain that the commission’s opinion contains ‘clear material errors’ of law, principle and fact and insist evidence exists supporting their innocence.
Al Mubarak’s meeting also comes alongside the wider debate about the relationship between City’s Abu Dhabi ownership and investment in the UK.
Prime minister Andy Burnham recently expressed concern about the possibility of City losing their current owners, highlighting the club’s wider investment in Manchester.
Emirati officials have warned the government that the severity of City’s case could affect the UAE’s appetite for major future investment commitments in the UK.
Al Mubarak occupies prominent positions in both worlds, having served as City chairman since the 2008 takeover while also leading Mubadala.
His meeting with Reynolds adds another political dimension to a case already attracting attention beyond football.
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