Soccer-PM Burnham says he would be very concerned if Man City owners sold club

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham on stage at the Labour Party's annual conference in Liverpool, Britain, September 29, 2026. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja

MANCHESTER, England, Sept 30 (Reuters) - ⁠Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he would be "really ⁠concerned" if Manchester City's Abu Dhabi owners decided to sell ‌the club after they were found guilty of serious breaches of financial rules.

Burnham praised the ownership group led by Sheikh Mansour for its investment in Manchester ​since taking over the club in 2008.

"I ⁠would be really concerned to ⁠lose them," he told the BBC. "They've been such a huge partner ⁠in ‌the building of modern Manchester and obviously the building of Manchester City into the global force that it is."

The ⁠Premier League said on Tuesday that City had ​used "sham" commercial contracts ‌as part of schemes to inflate revenue and understate costs ⁠by more ​than £900 million ($1.2 billion) over nearly a decade.

City have denied wrongdoing and said they will appeal.

Burnham, who was previously the mayor of Greater Manchester, drew ⁠parallels with Everton's battle with the ​league's profit and sustainability rules, when he argued the club he supports had not been treated fairly.

Everton received a 10-point deduction, that was ⁠later reduced to six points, after being found to have breached the league's financial rules over a three-year period ending in 2022.

"It would be wrong of me to leap to one side given ​the experience that I'd had before," he ⁠said.

With sanctions yet to be determined and appeals expected, Burnham acknowledged ​there was "a lot at stake" for City, ‌their supporters and Manchester, but said ​it would be inappropriate for him to intervene in the disciplinary process.

(Reporting by Lori Ewing. editing by Ed Osmond)

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英国首相安迪·伯纳姆于2026年9月29日在英国利物浦举行的工党年度大会上发表讲话。路透社/Temilade Adelaja

英国曼彻斯特，9 月 30 日（路透社）——英国首相安迪·伯纳姆表示，如果曼城阿布扎比老板在被判犯有严重违反财务规定的罪行后决定出售俱乐部，他将“非常担忧”。

伯纳姆赞扬了谢赫·曼苏尔领导的财团自 2008 年接管曼彻斯特俱乐部以来对该俱乐部的投资。

“如果失去他们，我会非常担心，”他告诉BBC。“他们一直是曼彻斯特现代化建设的重要合作伙伴，当然也包括曼城发展成为如今这支世界级强队的过程。”

英超联赛周二表示，曼城利用“虚假”商业合同，在近十年的时间里，通过一系列手段虚增收入、低估成本，涉案金额超过 9 亿英镑（12 亿美元）。

市政府否认有任何不当行为，并表示将提起上诉。

曾任大曼彻斯特市长的伯纳姆将此事与埃弗顿与联赛盈利和可持续发展规则的斗争相提并论，他认为自己支持的俱乐部没有受到公平对待。

埃弗顿因在截至 2022 年的三年期间违反联赛财务规则而被扣除 10 分，后来减至 6 分。

“鉴于我之前的经历，如果我贸然偏袒任何一方，那就错了，”他说。

由于制裁措施尚未确定，而且预计还会有上诉，伯纳姆承认这对曼城、他们的球迷和曼彻斯特来说“事关重大”，但他表示，他不宜干预纪律处分程序。

（Lori Ewing报道，Ed Osmond编辑）

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