
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he will release details of his meetings with senior figures at Manchester City following criticism of his comments after the club was found guilty of Premier League financial rule breaches between 2009 and 2018 involving over £830m in secret funding via sham contracts.
AI-generated summary
Manchester City was found guilty by an independent commission of breaking Premier League financial rules over a nine-year period from 2009 to 2018 by creating sham contracts with commercial partners to secretly funnel over £830m into football operations.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he will release details of his meetings with senior figures at Manchester City following criticism of his comments in the wake of the club being found guilty of all charges related to breaches of the Premier League's financial rules.
An independent commission found City had broken rules over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018 by creating "sham" contracts with commercial partners to secretly funnel more than £830m into their football operations.
Burnham's previous role as mayor of Greater Manchester has led to questions about his relationship with City's Abu Dhabi ownership, with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch demanding No 10 release all details of meetings between the prime minister and senior figures at the club.
"I've been asked by the leader of the opposition to publish details of my meetings, which I'm happy to do and I'm going to," Burnham told the Rest is Politics podcast.
"I will quite clearly put out there everything that I have done working with them in my previous role as Mayor of Greater Manchester.
"None of it is recent, actually, in terms of the meetings I had. I only had one significant meeting, actually, and that was in 2021."
The prime minister initially told the BBC he would be "really concerned" if Manchester City's owners decide to sell up following the guilty verdict before later denying his reaction had "downplayed the seriousness of the findings".
However, some Premier League clubs were so "astonished" by Burnham's stance that sources told BBC Sport they were "concerned" about political interference in the appeal process.
Sanctions are yet to be announced and City have lodged an appeal against the verdict.
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Andy Burnham will release details of his meetings with Manchester City senior figures
Very likely · Within days
Manchester City's appeal against the financial rules verdict will proceed
Likely · Within weeks

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