Man City owners may sell club after guilty verdict 'disgraces' Abu Dhabi ruling family

Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi ownership group could look to sell the club in the wake of a damning independent commission ruling that found them guilty of 114 of the 115 Premier League financial charges brought against them, according to a leading expert on the United Arab Emirates.

The commission determined that City had used “sham” contracts to disguise more than £830 million in funding across a nine-year period — one of the most serious findings of financial misconduct in English football history. City have maintained their innocence throughout and have launched an appeal against the verdict.

Christopher M Davidson, author of Abu Dhabi: Oil & Beyond, told The Athletic that Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan — the club’s owner since 2008 and the UAE’s deputy prime minister and vice president — would seek to exit if the appeal fails to clear the club’s name.

“The ruling family of Abu Dhabi would feel that they had been embarrassed and disgraced by this ruling, and the best way of moving forward would be to sell now to cut the losses, as it were, rather than allow this to be a festering, lingering problem where the ownership of their club would be forever tainted in England,” Davidson said. “I can’t see any scenario where they would continue.”

The prospect of a forced sale adds a further layer of pressure. The Independent Football Regulator (IFR) has confirmed it holds powers to assess the suitability of owners and directors, stating it “will use these powers where appropriate, in the interests of protecting the sustainability, honesty and integrity of English football where there is clear evidence of wrongdoing by individuals.”

Club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak pushed back against any suggestion of a sale as recently as June, insisting there was “no intention to sell” and describing City as “a pinnacle” and one of those “jewels you don’t sell.”

However, Greater Manchester Mayor and former culture secretary Andy Burnham, who dealt closely with the club’s ownership during his time in that role, said he would be “really concerned” to lose them given their contribution to the region, while acknowledging the gravity of the verdict.

City’s appeal means the full picture of any sanctions — which could theoretically include points deductions or relegation — remains unclear, but the combination of regulatory scrutiny and reputational fallout has placed the club’s long-term ownership structure under unprecedented pressure.