sport news Gary Neville argues that those who run Premier League clubs must open up to ... trends now
I don't have a problem with owner funding as long as they can afford it, as Sheikh Mansour clearly can. But it does raise questions about exactly how a state interacts with the Premier League.
And what rules need to apply to regulate owner funding. But there are probably bigger questions of a graver nature to ask when we’re considering whether Abu Dhabi and now Saudi Arabia should be part of a Premier League club.
We all marvel at Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, but should more questions be asked about the money that pays for it?
Gary Neville has delivered a damning verdict in the first extracts from his brilliant new book
Sheikh Mansour has completely transformed Manchester City since taking ownership
Sheikh Mansour is the deputy prime minister of the country. It’s hard to believe he’s not aware of the reports from international organisations about human rights, and treatment of immigrant workers, women and the LGBT community in the United Arab Emirates.
What Abu Dhabi have done in Manchester in association with the city council is exceptional. It’s not just the stadium and the Etihad Campus, where I trained with England when I was Roy Hodgson’s assistant and which is an extraordinary facility. The entire area has been transformed and we’re a better city thanks to Abu Dhabi investment.
The criticism has been that they got the land on the cheap. But, trust me, no other property developer in Manchester would have wanted to take on that land and invest £1bn to build homes. It was too risky. And they have also provided land and money to build a leisure centre, sixth-form college and a health centre for the community.
There is no doubt residents have benefited from Abu Dhabi and that in turn has encouraged money from the USA and Asia to come in and enrich the city, create more jobs, better working conditions, better pay; to improve lives and improve our region. Abu Dhabi’s investment in City has been a trailblazer.
The Citizens have won four Premier League titles in the last five competitive season
But the more I learned about Abu Dhabi, beyond the City team and beyond east Manchester, the harder it is to just turn away and say these aren’t our concerns. We can’t really be passionate about getting things right in our own country regarding our failures over human rights and ignore what is happening in Abu Dhabi just because they also give us Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne.
And yet clearly we can’t change Abu Dhabi in a way we can effect change in the UK. Sheikh Mansour isn’t going anywhere and his model of investment has revolutionised our game. If our understanding of Abu Dhabi was better it would have pricked our conscience about what goes on there.
And yet when the former president, Sheikh Khalifa, died in 2022, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, travelled to the UAE to meet with MBZ and pay his condolences. ‘The bond between the UK and the UAE is deep,’ said a statement on Prince William’s behalf. That’s how important the
