Amanda Staveley, who helped broker Sheikh Mansour’s takeover of City in 2008, has expressed hope that the club and the Premier League can find a resolution to their ongoing dispute.
Speaking at the Leaders conference at Stamford Bridge, Staveley acknowledged the difficulties facing Premier League executives as they deal with competing demands from member clubs.
Her comments, reported by journalist Ben Jacobs, come after City appealed an independent commission’s ruling that found the club guilty of 114 of the 115 financial charges brought against them.
Staveley urges football to build bridges
“We have such an exciting league. Football in Europe is potentially the most watched sport in the world, and we should really nurture this asset,” Staveley said.
“We should nurture our fans, and we should do everything we can to try and make a resolution to the issues that exist today.”
The businesswoman, who was also instrumental in Newcastle United’s Saudi-backed takeover, recognised the pressures facing Premier League executives.
“You’ve got 20 clubs and half of them are shouting at you to do one thing; the rest of the ten clubs are shouting at you to do another,” she explained.
Staveley suggested that navigating those competing interests was particularly difficult when clubs were prepared to pursue legal action against the competition’s governing body.
Her message was ultimately one of reconciliation. She called for football to concentrate on “the future and getting it right and trying to build bridges with our neighbours.”
City continue to dispute the commission’s findings and have appealed. The disciplinary process has yet to reach its conclusion. Staveley’s remarks did not address the merits of the charges or suggest that any agreement was imminent.
