Mirror Football
October 14, 2026
Hello and welcome to Mirror Football's Manchester City Premier League charges live blog.
Andy Burnham has been warned that the chairman of the Independent Football Regulator, David Kogan, would resign if he came under political pressure over the City charges case.
Pep Guardiola is also set for a return to Etihad Stadium tonight. City's former manager is due to attend City's Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain.
Stay with us for the latest football news, updates and developments surrounding City's charges.
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Jerome Mayhew, the Member of Parliament for Broadland and Fakenham, asked Andy Burnham during Prime Minister's Question:
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?
Responding to the question, Burnham said:
They did not raise those issues with me.
(Image: Getty Images)
Andy Burnham has said during Prime Minister's Questions that today's news about his dinners with Khaldoon Al Mubarak is covered by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority statement published on Monday.
I'm very happy 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, 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 includes the issues in the news today; that is the position.
(Image: HENRY NICHOLLS, AFP via Getty Images)
Downing Street have defended Andy Burnham having to dinners with Khaldoon Al Mubarak by saying they were not separate meetings and instead hospitality received at matches, according to the BBC.
A No 10 Downing Street spokesperson previously clarified comments Burnham made about City, saying:
As the Prime Minister made clear, the initial judgement is serious and there can't be any suggestion that anyone is above the rules. He also stressed that it is an ongoing independent process. It is essential that it is allowed to run its course and the outcome respected. If wrongdoing is established, those responsible should face the appropriate consequences.
(Image: SEAN GALLUP, POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Louie French, the Member of Parliament for Old Bexley & Sidcup in Westminster and Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, has alleged that Andy Burnham oversaw a £24.5m taxpayer loan as the Mayor of Greater Manchester shortly after one of the dinners with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the Etihad Stadium during a Manchester City match that have resurfaced.
Andy Burnham promised the country and House of Commons full transparency on his dealings with Manchester City. This was essential after his inappropriate intervention into football. Now we learn Burnham oversaw a £24.5m taxpayer loan shortly after one of these dinners.
(Image: PA)
Robert Jenrick, Member of Parliament (MP) for Newark and the Reform UK Treasury Spokesperson, claims the City scandal compromises Andy Burnham in response to the details of a deleted register of interests being revealed that include two meetings with the club's chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, in 2017 and 2018 at Etihad Stadium during his first term as the mayor of Greater Manchester.
This whole saga stinks. Burnham appears to have lied about his extensive links to Manchester City's owners. No wonder he was so desperate to leap to their defence. Fans deserve better than a Prime Minister compromised by this scandal.
(Image: TOLGA AKMEN/EPA/Shutterstock)
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has suggested that City may have already recieved their punishment, telling talkSPORT:
Well, for all we know, City could have received the punishment, and everybody signed a non-disclosure agreement, and they are appealing the original verdict of guilt at the same time as knowing what the punishment could be; there’s so much silence.We did see the revelations a couple of weeks ago that four clubs had been told in advance of the other clubs in the Premier League the verdict, so the degree of secrecy that’s taking place here could very well be significant.
Kieran Maguire
Andy Burnham had dinner with City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak at Etihad Stadium twice while Manchester mayor, according to The Sun.
Those meetings are reportedly detailed in a register of interests that Burnham allegedly signed on December 7 2020, which has since been removed from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority's website. He is said to have accepted almost £1,200 in freebies funded by City.
Burnham said on The Rest is Politics podcast: "I only had one significant meeting, actually, and that was in 2021." The two dinners with Al Mubarak at Etihad Stadium are dated August 2017 and April 2018.
(Image: Sean Gallup/PA Wire)
Abu Dhabi and City being weakened by any sanctions from their Premier League charges would not be welcomed by Paris Saint-Germain and Qatar, according to Raphaël Le Magoariec, who teaches at the University of Tours with a specialism in Gulf countries and their sport policies,
Le Magoariec, speaking to our colleagues at the Manchester Evening News, has said:
Strategic interest outweighs rivalry here. A weakened City would not be a Qatari victory. It would signal that European institutions can, in the end, sanction a Gulf state’s flagship club, and that is a precedent no Gulf owner wants to see established.
PSG manager Luis Enrique celebrates victory with president Nasser Al-Khelaifi(Image: Marvin Ibo Guengoer - GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)
Independent Football Regulator chairman David Kogan says he will resign in response to any political pressure over the City charges case.
Our independence is absolute, and my independence personally is absolute. I made it very clear last year that if we have any form of Government interference in the way we operate, it is going to result in me resigning from this role, and I stand by that completely.I should say, to be crystal clear, we’ve come under absolutely no political pressure on this or any other topic, and I don’t expect to in the future. Ministers know full well that we are going to act completely independently.
(Image: Christopher Furlong, Getty Images)
Manchester City are playing their first match at Etihad Stadium tonight since being found guilty by an independent commission of breaching the Premier League's financial rules.
Paris Saint-Germain are their opponents in the Champions League, and Pep Guardiola is set to be in attendance for the first time since leaving at the end of last season. Andy Burnham is in the spotlight over his visits to the Etihad Stadium after reportedly attending two dinners with City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak during his first term as the mayor of Greater Manchester.
Follow along throughout the day for all the latest updates...
(Image: Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)
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