Andy Burnham, the British Prime Minister, confirmed that the owners and directors of the English club Manchester City did not raise with him the issue of the accusations leveled against the club by the English Football Association during his meetings with them.
He expressed his great pleasure in revealing the details of those meetings, after they were published, the day before yesterday (Monday).
Manchester City was found guilty of all charges related to violating the financial rules of the English Premier League, as well as “the majority of charges” related to failure to cooperate with the league’s investigations.
The day before yesterday, it was revealed that Burnham held an official meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Manchester City, on the sidelines of an investment summit. He also spoke with him in the stands of a stadium during a tribute match for one of the prominent players, and he was accompanied by employees from the club during official external visits.
Burnham was asked about these meetings during a 'Prime Minister's Questions' session by Conservative MP Jerome Mayhew, for Broadland and Fakenham.
Mayhew said: “The Prime Minister sees himself as a man of candor, so is he going to tell the council: Has anyone associated with the management of Manchester City Football Club raised the issue of the charges they have been facing, of which they have now been found guilty, either with him or with any member of his team?”
“They did not raise those issues with me,” Burnham replied.
He continued, according to the British news agency “PA Media”: “I am very pleased that everything has been clarified in detail.”
He added: “That is why I have asked the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, in response to a call from the Leader of the Opposition and others, to issue a comprehensive statement about my major dealings with the owners of Manchester City Football Club.”
Rising Spanish star Rafael Chodar received a warning for “unsportsmanlike behavior” after he shouted an obscene word at a ball collector during the round of 16 of the Shanghai 1000-point tennis tournament on Wednesday.
Khodar, 20 years old, was lagging behind Dutchman Boteach van de Zandschulp after losing the first set in the tie-break when he shouted: “Give me the damned towel!”
Khodar fired a long shot and lost a break point in the first game of the second set. Khodar was soon warned for unsporting behaviour, a violation of the PFA rules, by Ecuadorian referee Jimmy Benuarguti.
The two exchanged conversations in Spanish, where Khodar complained to Benwarguti that his request for a towel had been ignored. Benwarguti responded that he understood Khodar's position but could not excuse him for the word he used.
“Ask, and I will ask him,” Benwarguti said, adding: “Not that way, that’s not the way we talk to them.”
When Godard asked Benwargoti: “What did you say?” The referee replied: “I can’t repeat that, you know what I said.”
Khodar overturned a set deficit against Van de Zandschulp to a deserved victory with a score of 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-2. Khodar, ranked 13th in the world, is having a distinguished season that began in 168th place.
He will face Casper Ruud in the Shanghai quarter-finals after the Norwegian qualified after Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime withdrew due to injury from the fourth round.
Russian Daniil Medvedev qualified for the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters Tennis Championship, after defeating Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in the latest chapter of tense confrontations between players over the years.
The match did not witness any controversial events this time, as Medvedev, seeded fifth in the tournament, won 6-4 and 7-5, becoming only the fourth player to reach the quarter-finals in the tournament for three consecutive years, after Swiss Roger Federer, Serbian Novak Djokovic and British Andy Murray.
Previous confrontations between Medvedev and Tsitsipas witnessed sharp verbal altercations, including the meeting between the two in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in 2022.
Khodar, seeded twelfth in the tournament, will meet Norwegian Casper Ruud in the next round of the 1,000-point Masters tournament, after the latter qualified following the withdrawal of Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, seeded fourth, due to a suspected knee injury, when he was trailing 2-5 in the first set.
