Sir Richard Leese has defended Abu Dhabi’s investment in Manchester, insisting the city’s relationship with Man City has delivered on the promises made to it.
The former Manchester City Council leader and City’s honorary president was speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme against the backdrop of the club’s appeal against the independent commission’s findings.
Leese stressed that he was speaking personally rather than for City before pointing to the scale of Abu Dhabi-backed investment in east Manchester.
“Though I’m an honorary president of the club I’m speaking on behalf of myself, I’m not speaking on behalf of the club,” he said.
“Certainly the investment in Manchester from Abu Dhabi has been very significant.”
Leese says Abu Dhabi has delivered for Manchester
Leese cited the creation of City Football Group’s headquarters and training complex among the benefits, alongside more than £100m spent reclaiming heavily polluted former industrial land.
He also offered a strong endorsement of Manchester’s wider relationship with Abu Dhabi.
“I think for the city, one thing about working with Abu Dhabi is that everything that they’ve promised, they’ve delivered,” Leese said. “They have real credibility in the city.”
His comments come less than a week after an independent commission found City guilty of 114 of the 115 Premier League charges they faced.
The findings included breaches of the League’s financial rules covering the period from 2009-10 to 2017-18. The commission’s decision referred to a “disguised funding scheme” and concluded that City’s accounts had misstated revenues and costs.
City strongly reject the conclusions and have lodged an appeal. The club said the commission’s decision contains “clear material errors, of law, principle and fact” and maintains that it is innocent of the accusations against it.
Leese acknowledged that position during his BBC interview.
“The club of course are still claiming very strongly that they’re innocent and say they’re going to prove their innocence,” he said.
Leese defends Manchester regeneration deal
The discussion also moved beyond the football club to the relationship between Manchester City Council and Abu Dhabi.
A council review published in July identified weaknesses in areas including documentation, monitoring and assurance surrounding the partnership, according to the Manchester Evening News.
Leese pushed back against suggestions that the original arrangement lacked transparency. He said the deal had been brokered by the UK Government and agreed between the UK and United Arab Emirates governments.
He argued that the investment arrived when development in Manchester had stalled following the banking crash and recession, helping to stimulate regeneration in Ancoats and encourage other developers into the area.
“I think this demonstrated that the deal was a good deal and a good deal for Manchester,” he said.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has also spoken positively about the owners’ contribution to the city, saying recently that he would be concerned to lose them because of the role they have played in “the building of modern Manchester”.
Those comments have no bearing on the independent disciplinary process or the merits of City’s appeal.
The club’s challenge to the commission’s findings is now the next stage of the case. Leese’s intervention instead offers a different perspective on the wider debate, focusing on Abu Dhabi’s investment in Manchester and the physical regeneration that has accompanied City’s transformation since 2008.
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