Downing Street clarifies Andy Burnham’s Manchester City remarks after criticism

Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s office said on Thursday, 1 October, that a Premier League commission’s finding against Manchester City was serious and its independent process must run its course. The clarification followed criticism of Burnham’s comments to the BBC at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool a day earlier, when he said he would be concerned if the club’s Abu Dhabi owners sold it.

Downing Street said there could be no suggestion that anyone was above the rules and that the outcome of the league’s process should be respected. Its intervention put the government’s position more plainly than Burnham had in his interview, without establishing that he had changed his personal view of the owners or the club.

What Andy Burnham said about Manchester City’s owners

Asked by BBC political editor Chris Mason whether he was worried the owners might sell, Burnham said: ‘I would be really concerned to lose them.’ He called them a ‘huge partner in the building of modern Manchester’ and credited them with helping turn City into a global force. Those comments echoed the concern covered in an earlier NewsJaws report; Thursday’s clarification is the new development.

Burnham also said he was keeping his distance from the disciplinary process. He told the BBC he was not getting directly involved and should not reach a conclusion without studying the detail, because City contested the case. The distinction matters: concern about the possible loss of the owners was his stated view, while the finding on the club’s conduct came from an independent commission.

How Downing Street clarified the prime minister’s remarks

After the interview drew criticism, a No 10 spokesperson said the initial judgment was ‘serious’ and ‘there can’t be any suggestion that anyone is above the rules.’ The spokesperson said the independent process should be allowed to run its course and its outcome respected. The Independent reported that shadow sports minister Louie French called on the government to ‘keep politics out of football.’

The wording changed again that Thursday. According to the BBC, the first written statement said, ‘If wrongdoing is established, those responsible should face the appropriate consequences.’ A little over an hour later, Downing Street reissued it with ‘Wherever wrongdoing is established’ in place of ‘If.’ The Independent reported the final wording. The revision matters because the commission had already published findings, although City disputes them and the process is continuing.

What the Premier League commission found

In its 29 September statement, the Premier League said an independent commission had found Manchester City guilty of all charges concerning serious financial-rule breaches across nine seasons, as well as most of the charges concerning its failure to cooperate with the league’s investigation. The league said three of four alleged cooperation breaches were upheld. These are findings reported by the league, not a completed appeal or a decision on punishment.

The league said the commission found that, between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons, City used sham commercial agreements and other arrangements to increase reported revenue and reduce reported costs. It said the schemes affected more than £900 million and led to misstated accounts and breaches of spending limits. City has rejected the decision: The Independent reported the club’s claim that it contained material errors of law, principle and fact and was unsafe.

The Premier League said its investigation began in December 2018, a formal complaint followed in February 2023, and the commission’s 42-day hearing ended in December 2024. It has published a redacted version of the commission’s core decision. The league says further material remains subject to confidentiality rules, limiting what can yet be assessed from the published record.

The appeal deadline and possible sanctions

City has until Friday, 2 October, to appeal the findings, according to the Premier League. The league says sanctions will be dealt with at a separate private hearing before the independent commission. Its rules allow measures including fines, points deductions and other sporting sanctions. No sanction had been announced in the cited reports, and the outcome of any appeal remained open.

That unresolved process frames the political argument over Burnham’s remarks. Downing Street has now expressly acknowledged the seriousness of the initial judgment while saying the independent procedure must continue. Whether City appeals, what happens to the findings and what penalty follows are separate questions for the football authorities, rather than outcomes settled by the prime minister’s comments.