The UK opposition has intensified calls for Andy Burnham to disclose his dealings with Manchester City after reports revealed that the club’s chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, hosted two hospitality dinners attended by the former Greater Manchester mayor.
According to the BBC, the dinners took place at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium in August 2017 and April 2018, prompting renewed questions about Burnham’s contacts with the club’s ownership.
The controversy followed the publication of a statement by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), outlining some of Burnham’s meetings and engagements with Manchester City. However, the statement did not specifically mention the two dinners.
Previously published records showed that Burnham attended a dinner with Al Mubarak and then-Manchester City Council leader Richard Leese during an Everton match in August 2017. The hospitality was valued at £300.
A second declaration recorded a dinner with the Manchester City chairman during the Manchester derby in April 2018, valued at approximately £699.
Burnham also declared receiving two tickets worth £150 for an Ed Sheeran concert at the Etihad Stadium in May 2018.
However, the register containing the declarations has since been removed from the GMCA website. The authority reportedly publishes only declarations relating to the current mayoral term, although the dinners had previously been declared.
Burnham has maintained that he is willing to provide further details about his interactions with Manchester City. He said he requested that the GMCA publish a statement outlining his key dealings with the club’s owners.
Speaking to MPs, Burnham said the issues had not been raised with him directly.
He explained that his request for disclosure followed calls from opposition politicians, including the Conservative Party leader, for greater transparency.
The GMCA statement identified a formal meeting between Burnham and Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit in October 2021. The meeting was arranged by the Department for International Trade.
It also mentioned an informal encounter between the two men in the stands during a 2019 testimonial match for former Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany.
The authority further disclosed that Burnham had attended a small number of the club’s home matches as a guest, but did not specifically identify the two dinners.
Downing Street defended the hospitality, describing the dinners as attendance at home matches that had been declared, rather than separate meetings with the Manchester City chairman.
The explanation has failed to end demands for more comprehensive disclosures from opposition politicians.
Conservative shadow sports minister Louie French said Burnham had promised the country and the House of Commons full transparency about his dealings with Manchester City.
French also criticised what he described as Burnham’s intervention in football, insisting that further disclosure was necessary.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has similarly called on Downing Street to release details of meetings involving Burnham and senior Manchester City figures.
The controversy follows Burnham’s appearance on *The Rest Is Politics* podcast, where he said he was prepared to publish details of his interactions with the club during his time as mayor.
Burnham maintained that he had held only one significant meeting with the club, referring to the formal engagement in 2021 listed in the GMCA statement.
The dispute centres partly on the distinction between formal meetings, informal encounters and hospitality received at football matches.
While the authority’s statement outlined several interactions, opposition figures argue that the information does not provide a sufficiently complete account of Burnham’s dealings with the club.
The calls for disclosure come amid broader scrutiny of Manchester City’s relationship with public institutions and its financial affairs.
An independent commission found that the club had breached Premier League financial regulations over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018. The commission also found that the club had used what it described as “sham” contracts with commercial partners to channel more than £830 million into its football operations.
Manchester City denies wrongdoing and has appealed the findings. According to the report, sanctions have yet to be announced.
Earlier in October, former Manchester City Council leader Richard Leese defended a decade-old agreement between the council and Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), the company linked to the club’s owners.
A University of Sheffield report said land had been leased to ADUG at rates below those of comparable market transactions, adding to questions about the relationship between Manchester City’s ownership and public bodies.
These separate controversies have contributed to increased scrutiny of the club’s dealings with public officials. However, they do not establish wrongdoing by Burnham in connection with the hospitality declarations.
The opposition is now demanding a fuller account of the 2017 and 2018 dinners, alongside other interactions between Burnham and Manchester City’s senior figures.
Burnham says he is willing to disclose further information, while Downing Street maintains that the dinners were declared hospitality associated with home matches.
Further disclosures from the GMCA or Downing Street could clarify the timeline and nature of the engagements and help address the transparency concerns raised by opposition politicians.
