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I have no problem with the owner’s funds as long as they can afford it, Sheikh Mansour obviously does.But it does suggest how a country can relate to Premier League.
And what rules need to be applied to regulate owner funds. But there may be more serious questions to ask when we consider whether Abu Dhabi and now Saudi Arabia should be part of a Premier League club.
we are all amazed Guardiolaof Manchester Citybut should you ask more questions about the money to pay for it?
Gary Neville delivers harrowing verdict in first excerpts from his brilliant new book
Sheikh Mansour has revolutionised Manchester City since taking ownership
Sheikh Mansour is the country’s deputy prime minister. It’s hard to believe he doesn’t know what international organizations are reporting on human rights and the treatment of migrant workers, women and the LGBT community in the United Arab Emirates.
What Abu Dhabi has done in Manchester in partnership with the City Council is extraordinary. It’s not just the stadium and the Etihad campus, I trained with England when I was Roy Hodgson’s assistant and it’s a phenomenal facility. Thanks to the investment in Abu Dhabi, the whole region has changed and we are a better city.
The criticism is that they got the land cheaply. But, believe me, no other property developer in Manchester is willing to take this land and invest £1 billion to build a house. It’s too risky. They also provided land and funding to build a recreation center, sixth-grade college and a wellness center for the community.
There is no doubt that residents benefit from Abu Dhabi, which in turn encourages money from the US and Asia to enter and enrich the city, creating more jobs, better working conditions, better pay; Improve lives and improve our region. Abu Dhabi’s investment in cities is a trailblazer.
Citizens have won four Premier League titles in the past five seasons
But the more I know about Abu Dhabi, Manchester City and East Manchester, the harder it is to turn around and say these are not our concerns. We can’t really be keen to correct our human rights failures in our own country and ignore what’s going on in Abu Dhabi just because they gave us Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne too.
However, it is clear that we cannot change Abu Dhabi in a way that can affect change in the UK. Sheikh Mansour is not going anywhere, his investment model has completely changed our game. If we had a better understanding of Abu Dhabi, it would have made us feel bad about what happened there.
However, when former President Sheikh Khalifa died in 2022, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, travelled to the UAE to meet MBZ and offer his condolences. A statement on behalf of Prince William said the bond between the UK and the UAE runs deep. That’s how important the UAE and its oil are to his country.
I’m trying to understand the huge positive impact Manchester City’s ownership has had on and off the pitch, and the balance between some of the major human and worker rights violations happening in the UAE. Should these two questions be separated?
Investment from Abu Dhabi allows owners to build a dynasty at the club
Should state-related ownership be allowed? All these questions will need to be answered satisfactorily by a new football regulator.
My personal position has always been to cooperate with other countries, not to expel them. Sitting around a table means you have more opportunities to change and change behavior than you are on the other side of the fence. Football is powerful and can influence political and social issues.
One thing that is clear to me is that access to football ownership in this country has to be done through an independently created transparent licensing system. Regulators should periodically review this license to assess the owner’s outside activities outside the game. We’ve seen Chelsea and Roman Abramovich, we can’t turn a blind eye.
Saudi Arabia gets a PR boost at Newcastle, but no one questions them. It’s not just Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia’s problem. The same goes for the big owners in America. They got the trophy, but we never heard from Liverpool’s John W. Henry unless it was a pre-recorded apology video.
We’ve seen Chelsea and Roman Abramovich can’t turn a blind eye to politics
Joel Glazer, who has guided policy at Manchester United since 2005, has never given a TV or newspaper interview in the UK or been asked questions about his repeated failures. After the fiasco in the Chinese Super League, he started meeting with fans, but who knows how long it will last?
The current lack of accountability is totally unacceptable. Whether you are from New York or Newcastle, Saudi Arabia or Southend, if you want to play our games, you must follow our rules.
All clubs should hold an annual meeting open to season ticket holders and members. Regulators should ensure that the ultimate beneficial owners of clubs are there to talk to fans and answer questions. If that’s a head of state or a reclusive oligarch, so be it. They should be with their CEO.
All clubs should hold annual meetings open to season ticket holders and members
In addition, at least once a year, Premier League bosses and key executives must appear before a panel of regulators, possibly with journalists, to answer questions publicly.
It’s not just a question of who you will sign in the transfer window. If the panel wants to ask about Jamal Khashoggi or LGBT rights, that’s perfectly legal. There should be no bars. It should be like a select committee of the House of Commons. The group should also have the power to convene EFL owners.
If you want to enjoy the richness of English football, you should be open to questions. If you don’t like that, it’s hard. It’s ridiculous that Eddie Howe is the only person at Newcastle we can ask human rights questions, or that Thomas Tuchel is going to answer questions about Abramovich sanctions. Owners need to be forced into hiding. We can’t change government policy in Saudi Arabia, but we can vet Newcastle bosses.
From The People’s Game: Gary Neville’s Football Front Seat Perspective Posted on Thursday, September 15th (Hodder & Stoughton). Neither Gary Neville nor the publisher paid for the excerpts.
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