Andy Burnham had one formal meeting with Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak while he was mayor of Greater Manchester, according to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. The statement came out on Sunday, after the prime minister said he would publish a full account of his dealings with the club.
What the GMCA Says Happened
The authority said the meeting took place in October 2021 at the UK Government's Global Investment Summit, an event arranged by the Department for International Trade. Burnham also met Al Mubarak informally in the stands at a City home game in September 2019, when he went to Vincent Kompany's testimonial as a guest of the club. The GMCA added that Burnham attended City home matches on a small number of occasions and that the hospitality was declared in the usual way.
It also pointed out that sports clubs from across the region routinely joined business delegations on overseas trips during his time as mayor. Manchester United representatives travelled to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire County Cricket Club joined a delegation to India, and City staff supported visits to China and Japan.
The Political Row
The statement came after criticism of comments Burnham made following the independent commission's verdict against City. The commission found the club broke the Premier League's financial rules over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018 by creating sham contracts with commercial partners to secretly funnel more than £830m into the football operation. City were found guilty of all charges and have lodged an appeal. No sanction has been announced.
Burnham first told the BBC he would be really concerned if City's owners decided to sell following the verdict, then later denied that his reaction downplayed the seriousness of the findings. He said he did not think he had misspoken, explaining that his mind had been on the Labour Party conference at the time of the interview. On the Rest is Politics podcast he said he would publish details of his meetings, and that he had only one significant meeting, in 2021. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has demanded that Downing Street release the full details.
Shadow sports minister Louie French said Burnham could not hide behind the GMCA and had to take responsibility himself, adding that the information so far fell short of the full transparency fans deserve. Burnham was mayor from 2017 until earlier this year, a period in which he championed Gulf investment as a way of growing the Manchester economy.
Clubs Watching the Appeal
Beyond the meetings themselves, there is the question of what they might signal. Sources told BBC Sport that some Premier League clubs were astonished by Burnham's stance and were concerned about political interference in the appeal process. The whole case is independent of the Premier League, and the commission sat for a 42-day hearing in 2024 before delivering its verdict last month.
On the pitch, City returned to action on Sunday for the first time since the verdict and won 3-0 at Liverpool. Off it, the club's future stays in limbo until the appeal is heard and any sanction is decided, with nothing confirmed. Burnham has said the details of his meetings will be published.
Context: Manchester City were found guilty of all charges by an independent commission in a case covering 2009 to 2018 and have appealed; sanctions have not been announced. The GMCA statement was reported by BBC Sport on 11-12 October 2026. Source reporting: BBC Sport.
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