Independent football regulator chair would quit if politics interfered in Man City investigation
Independent football regulator chair would quit if politics interfered in Man City investigation
The segment examines the regulatory and political fallout around Manchester City's Premier League rules case. David Kogan says the regulator's independence is absolute and he would resign over political interference; the guest explains that if City lose their appeal the regulator could force owners to sell, and why Burnham's dealings with City figures are under scrutiny. Burnham denies discussing the case with City executives and says he has been fully transparent.
- If Manchester City lose their appeal, the regulator could step in, deem the current owners unfit and force them to sell the club — The regulator has the power to remove senior executives and force an owner to sell, and City are appealing.
- I would resign as chair if there is any political interference in how the regulator operates — The regulator's independence is absolute, and my personal independence is absolute.
- Kogan is warning politicians not to interfere and making clear the regulator is independent and he is in charge — Kogan publicly promised to resign if there is any political interference.
- Abu Dhabi and the UK are very close, and Burnham's ties to senior City figures explain why he faces political questions over the City case — Abu Dhabi has invested more than £30bn in the UK and Manchester; Burnham has met City chairman Mubarak and attended City games against Everton and in the Manchester derby.
- I have done nothing wrong, I have been totally transparent, and I did not discuss the case with City's chairman, owner or senior executives — He has had the Greater Manchester Combined Authority publish a full statement of his key dealings and denies the claims.
► Subscribe to Sky Sports News: http://bit.ly/SkySportsNewsSub ► Watch Sky Sports with NOW: https://bit.ly/NOWSkySportsYT The independent football regulator says he would resign if the government tried to interfere in how he handled the Manchester City case. City are appealing after being found guilty by an independent commission of breaking more than one hundred Premier League rules. If City lose the appeal, the regulator, led by David Kogan, has the power to remove executives from senior positions at City and even force the owner Sheikh Mansour to sell the club. “Let me be really clear about this,” David Kogan said. “Our independence is absolute, and my independence personally is absolute. Any form of political interference on the way we operate is going to result in my resigning from this role. And I stand by that completely.” Abu Dhabi and the UK have close ties and common trade and diplomatic interests. Abu Dhabi has invested more than £30 billion in the UK, including in Manchester. That has led to questions being asked about the nature of the relationship between Prime Minister Andy Burnham and City. Burnham was Mayor of Greater Manchester from 2017 to 2026. Burnham said two weeks ago that he would be “really concerned” if City’s owners were forced to sell the club. SkySportsNews SkySports football ► For the latest developments on this story: https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/topstories ► For the latest transfer news: https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/TransferCentre More from Sky Sports on YouTube: ► Sky Sports: http://bit.ly/SkySportsSub ► Sky Sports Boxing: http://bit.ly/SSBoxingSub ► Sky Sports Cricket: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyCricket ► Sky Sports Darts: https://bit.ly/SubSkySportsDarts ► Sky Sports Football: http://bit.ly/SSFootballSub ► Sky Sports F1: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyF1 ► Sky Sports Golf: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsGolf ► Sky Sports Premier League: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsPL ► Sky Sports Retro…
Transcript
Welcome back. Now, Manchester City take on PSG [music] in the Champions League in their first home game since being found guilty by an independent commission of breaking more than 100 Premier League rules. The head of English football's independent regulator has had some pretty strong comments on this. Our chief correspondent Ki Sol is here with me. Um so Kvy, what can you tell us on what the independent football regulator has had to say? >> Yeah, very strong comments. uh his name is David Kogan and the reason he could get involved in the Manchester City case is uh City have been found guilty of breaking all these rules. They're appealing. if they lose their appeal, there is the possibility of the independent football regulator getting involved and the regulator has the power to remove uh senior executives from their positions at Manchester City and the regulator also has the power to force an owner to sell a club. So potentially if City lose the appeal, you could have the situation where the regulator could intervene and say, "Look, the people who own City at the moment, they're not fit and proper owners. They have to sell the club." Now because of the relationship between the prime minister Andy Bernham and uh some very senior people at Manchester City because Andy Bernham before he became the prime minister was the mayor of Manchester. People have been asking the question is there going to be any kind of government interference when it comes to the football regulator potentially having to make a decision about some very senior and powerful people at Manchester City. and David Kogan who leads the regulator uh was speaking yesterday at the launch of uh the regulators report state of the game and he was asked uh about the potential of the regulator getting involved in Manchester City and the potential for government interference and he was very very clear. He said our independence is absolute. My independence is personally absolute. any form of political interference on the way we operate is going to result in me resigning from this role and I stand by that completely. So he's making it clear he's sending out a warning to any politicians uh who may want to interfere in the way the regulator is run that he is in charge and the regulator is independent. >> Well at PMQs today a backbench MP actually asked the prime minister Andy Burnham about Manchester City. Let's hear what he said. >> The prime minister sees himself as a man of cander. So will he tell the house, did anyone associated with the running of Manchester City Football Club raise the charges they were facing and have now been found guilty of either with him or with any member of his team. >> Prime Minister, >> uh they did not uh raise uh those issues uh with me. I'm very happy uh Mr. speaker for everything to be set out in full. It is why I asked the Greater Manchester Combined Authority in response to a call from the leader of the opposition and others uh to set out a full statement of my key dealings with the owners of Manchester City Football Club. That statement was published on Monday and it includes uh the issues in the news uh today and that is the position. >> It's interesting isn't it because you mentioned Andy Bern used to be the mayor of Manchester so he he has links with sort of everything that that goes on in this city. Just explain what why this is important in the in the wider context. And I know we don't like talking wider context. We do like to sit to stick to sport but we can't. >> Look, Abu Dhabi and the United Kingdom are very very close. Uh Abu Dhabi has invested I think more than 30 billion pounds into the UK uh into Manchester of course and in his role uh as the mayor of Greater Manchester. uh Andy Bernham would have had dealings with uh some very very senior people at Manchester City and it's come out that he has met Calun Mubarak the chairman of Manchester City. Uh we've found out that he attended two Manchester City games, one against Everton, the team he supports. Uh one was the Manchester derby where he received hospitality from Manchester City and he met Caldun Mubarak the chairman and that is why he was asked that question. uh in the House of Commons just a few minutes ago about in all these meetings that you've had with these powerful people at Manchester City, did you ever discuss the 115 charges case? Because this case has been going on for a long, long time, eight years. And he was very very clear. He said, uh, I've done nothing wrong. I've been totally transparent and I did not discuss the case uh with the chairman or the owner or senior executives at city. Okay, can't thank you very much indeed.