UAE may halt UK investments after Manchester City guilty verdict

Premier League’s actions would ‘have an influence on the bilateral state relationship’, Emirati officials said

The United Arab Emirates has reportedly warned the government it could cancel big investments in the UK after Manchester City were found guilty by an independent commission.

Elsewhere, the Telegraph said the UAE is threatening to withdraw a multibillion-pound investment in a Silicon Valley-style Oxbridge tech hub.

The Telegraph also reports that the City chair, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, met Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, in Downing Street two weeks before the Premier League announced its decision.

A No 10 spokesperson issued the statement after the prime minister said he would be “really concerned” to see the current owners sell up.

Asked by the BBC earlier this week if he was worried about the current owners selling the club, Burnham said: “I would be really concerned to lose them.

Asked also if his dealings with the club would stand up to scrutiny, he said: “I do actually thank the City Football Group and the wider ownership for the money that they didn’t just put into the Etihad [Stadium] and the campus around it but also into the city – but yes, of course.”

The commission found that the remainder was funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.

Insisting on its innocence, the club reiterated it had filed “a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence [that] exists in support of all of its positions” on Thursday evening.