The facts
Andy Burnham's intervention in the Manchester City debate has revived tensions between the Premier League and the prime minister. Government officials are understood to be unhappy they were not given notice that the independent commission’s damning judgment of £900m of financial manipulation and “sham contracts” would be published shortly after Burnham’s address at the Labour party conference on Tuesday, and his response has not gone down well with several Premier League clubs concerned by his relationship with City’s owners. In a series of interviews on Wednesday, Burnham said he would be “really concerned” if City’s owners were forced to sell after being found guilty of more than 100 breaches of financial rules. Downing Street clarified Burnham’s position, with a spokesperson saying the prime minister had made clear that “the initial judgment is serious” and “there can’t be any suggestion that anyone is above the rules.” With City appealing against the verdict, the spokesperson noted the process had to be allowed to run its course but said: “If wrongdoing is established those responsible should face the appropriate consequences.” Burnham’s apparent sympathy for City, with a warning about jumping to conclusions and praise for the owners’ investment in Manchester, has alarmed some clubs. HMRC is facing calls to get involved, with Meg Hillier, chair of the Treasury committee, asking for its response to the commission’s judgment. The Times and Daily Mail have reported that City’s appeal will be based on evidence the club claim proves their sponsorship deals were funded by the Abu Dhabi government and not the club; the commission rejected that argument as “untrue.”
Our take
Well, well, well. The absolute state of Andy Burnham, a man who apparently thinks his job description is Chief Apologist for a Gulf State's Footballing Vanity Project. This weeping dickhead is "really concerned" that the people who allegedly forged 900 million pounds worth of financial documents and sham contracts might have to face the music. Fuck me. His big worry isn't the systematic corruption, the lies, or the fact that the entire competitive structure of the league is a fucking joke because of this bullshit. No, his tender heart bleeds for the poor, misunderstood sovereign wealth fund that might have to sell its plaything. What a pathetic cunt.
Let's get this straight: an independent commission, after a proper process, found Manchester City guilty of more than a hundred breaches. Their defence, that their own sponsorships were actually just Abu Dhabi government handouts, was called "untrue" by the people who actually looked at the evidence. Yet here's Mayor Muppet, fresh from the Labour conference, doing his best impression of a human shield for a multi-billion dollar entity. He's not concerned about the rule of law; he's concerned his mates in the Emirates might get their feelings hurt. It's a special kind of arse-licking reserved for those who confuse massive infrastructural investment with a license to cheat.
And the fucking gall of it! Government officials are pissed they didn't get a heads-up before this judgement landed, probably because they needed time to craft another mealy-mouthed statement about "process." Meanwhile, Burnham is out here pre-emptively sobbing about "jumping to conclusions" and singing praises for the owners. The conclusions have been jumped to, you clown! A verdict was reached! They're guilty! The only thing left to determine is how hard they get fucked on appeal. But Andy can't have that. The spectacle of a British politician grovelling before foreign capital is so embarrassingly predictable it makes you want to piss in your own hands and clap.
Now HMRC might get dragged in, and other clubs are rightly alarmed that a fucking mayor is acting as a PR flack for the most egregious cheats in the sport's history. Burnham's position is so transparently venal it's laughable. He's worried investment might dry up if the rules are enforced. That's it. That's his entire moral framework: money over integrity, oligarchs over fairness, his own local political capital over the basic fucking concept of sport. He's a grifter in a suit, polishing the brass on a sinking ship of lies. The only appropriate consequence here is for everyone involved to be named, shamed, and booted the fuck out, starting with every sycophantic prick who thinks financial doping is just a bit of harmless fun.
