As Iranian drones and missiles menaced Abu Dhabi and Dubai this spring, British warplanes roared across the Arabian Peninsula to fend them off alongside United Arab Emirates forces. The UAE saw the US-Israeli war against Iran as a moment of crisis that revealed which of its allies could be relied upon. As Typhoon fighter jets flew across its skies, the view in Abu Dhabi was that the UK had stepped up after years of frosty relations.
But those diplomatic ties are being tested afresh by the Premier League’s ruling against Manchester City after a long-running investigation fuelled friction between the two countries. The club, owned by a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family since 2008, has reportedly been found guilty on 114 of 115 charges relating to breaches of its financial rules. The decision, if upheld on appeal, could result in punishments ranging from substantial fines and points deductions to expulsion from the Premier League or being forced to pay other clubs compensation.
“It will be sensitive and there may well be a feeling that Manchester City have been singled out,” Simon Penney, a former UK trade commissioner to the Middle East. told the Financial Times. This “might cause some bilateral friction but if the breaches are genuine then it will be hard to say that this is politically motivated.”
Britain’s relations with the UAE had soured in recent years over issues ranging from an ill-fated Emirati-backed bid to buy the Daily Telegraph to differences over the civil war in Sudan and concerns in Abu Dhabi that the UK had failed to tackle the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist political movement.
Successive UK governments have sought to reset diplomatic relations in a bid to lure investment from the oil-rich Gulf state. Since taking power in 2024 the Labour government has made a concerted effort to smooth things over, and the recent military co-operation has also helped.
In the wake of Friday’s announcement, ministers sought to distance both politics and the club’s owners from the controversy. Lisa Nandy, UK culture secretary, said on Saturday that the Premier League “sets its own rules” and “needs to sort it out as soon as possible”. “We welcome investment in English football from all over the world . . . the rules of the game are not set by investors; investors are custodians of our football clubs and have a responsibility to uphold the rules of the game,” she told the BBC. “It’s not for them to set the rules of the game. Football belongs to its fans.”
Diplomats and analysts say Abu Dhabi and Downing Street are likely to seek to contain any political fallout, with the Iran war underscoring the benefits of the partnership, particularly in defence co-operation. The Manchester City issue “was very bad at the very beginning” of the four-year investigation, Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, an Emirati academic told the FT. “Now I think it’s more or less coming towards the end of it, they just have to handle it legally rather than politically.”
Prime Minister Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, and Jonathan Reynolds, business secretary and an MP for the city, are said to have good personal relations with Khaldoon al-Mubarak, the football club’s chair and one of Abu Dhabi’s most influential officials.
Khaldoon met Reynolds in London in the past couple of weeks, according to a senior government figure, but they did not discuss the situation at Manchester City. The meeting was focused on UK-UAE relations, the person told the Pink 'Un.
The 2008 Manchester City deal led by Sheikh Mansour seemed to encapsulate what the UK and UAE could get out of their relationship. Although Abu Dhabi insisted that the club’s ownership was a private matter, Manchester City’s success gilded the Abu Dhabi brand.
Sheikh Mansour turbocharged investment in the football club, helping City bag Champions and Premier League titles while boosting jobs and infrastructure around its Etihad Stadium, which was renamed as part of a sponsorship deal with the state-owned airline in 2011.
Sir Keir Starmer sought to reset relations with the UAE from the first months of his premiership. He was also among the first world leaders to visit Abu Dhabi during the Iran war, during which the Islamic republic fired almost 3,000 drones and missiles at the Gulf state.
Varun Chandra, Burnham’s business envoy, is among those engaged in attempting to ensure that Friday’s ruling against Manchester City does not spill over into a wider souring of relations.
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