A representative from Manchester City was invited on a government-backed trade mission to India, it has been revealed, forcing Greater Manchester mayor Bev Craig to defend the decision by citing the club’s contribution to the region.
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As Manchester City remain engaged in its decisive appeal hearing in the wake of the Premier League’s guilty verdict released during the latest international break, the lines between sporting controversy and political scandal are continuing to blur.
The latest controversy involves a City representative invited to join a delegation showcasing British trade and tourism across India, as revealed by a new report in The Guardian this week.
Inevitably, the presence of the Premier League giants has raised eyebrows after the club was judged to have committed serious breaches of the top-flight's financial rules over a nine-year period.
That scrutiny has now prompted Bev Craig, who succeeded British Prime Minister Andy Burnham as Greater Manchester mayor, to defend the decision to invite a Manchester City representative along on the trip.
Bev Craig stands by Man City trade mission invitation
Speaking to The Guardian as part of the revelation concerning the Etihad Stadium club, Bev Craig pointed to the role Manchester City have played in building infrastructure across the region.
“If a football club has broken the rules, a football club should be punished for breaking the rules, and that is pretty clear in an independent process,” she said.
Craig continued, “I think what can also be true at the same time though, if you ask residents in east Manchester, have they benefited from a new library, a new leisure centre, a new sixth-form college, infrastructure investment, the job opportunities that come from them being a good employment charter signee and an early adopter of the real living wage – then they will have felt that benefit.”
The club, which maintains its innocence in the process concerning the Premier League and its 'comprehensive appeal', declined to comment to the newspaper.
The backdrop to the revelation at Westminster
Bev Craig is not alone, with the Prime Minister himself coming under scrutiny over his own dealings with the club in a bruising few weeks for Andy Burnham, who has faced questions over his ties to City’s owners dating back to his own years as Greater Manchester mayor.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister confirmed he had attended two further dinners with the club’s chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the Etihad Stadium - after initially logging them as hospitality on a matchday - as first reported by The Sun.
These meetings were reportedly recorded in since-deleted council paperwork, with Downing Street calling such deletions standard policy upon a change of mayor.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Andy Burnham insisted no one at the club had ever brought the Premier League charges to his attention.
Bev Craig’s mayoral authority also published a record of Burnham’s earlier dealings with Manchester City figures, among them a formal sit-down with Khaldoon Al Mubarak and club staff joining him on official trips abroad.
The release followed his earlier comment that he would be “really concerned” were the club’s owners to sell, having called them a “huge partner in the building of modern Manchester”.
Part of a broader mission?
It should be stressed that Manchester City were only one organisation invited to represent the travelling party to India, with the likes of Lancashire Cricket Club and Visit Lake District also making the journey and appearing at a Delhi event that promoted British tourism.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, who arranged the visit, rejected any suggestion the case had damaged the Premier League’s standing, calling it one of the United Kingdom's most important brands.
Asked whether it had been appropriate to invite Manchester City, Reynolds referred back to the region as he stated, “That’s a Greater Manchester issue, and obviously they are a major participant in the economy in Greater Manchester.
"I understand the interest ... but in terms of the allegations, their appeal, that is a football matter.”
The story is a reminder of the predicament presented to so many who have benefitted from Manchester City's dealings without necessarily having an interest in football itself.
There is, it seems, a delicate balance to be found between appeasing those who want to see the club punished and keeping the owners and board onside. With the appeal scheduled for the coming months, that tension looks unlikely to let up any time soon.