The Manchester City soccer scandal has made headlines all over the world, thanks to the international popularity of the English Premier League. But some places are more directly affected than others: Melbourne, New York, Montevideo and Shenzhen are just some of the cities connected to the beleaguered club in the northwest of England. And for different reasons, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia also have much to consider.
This is because City has been the standard-bearer for two of the most controversial developments in the sport in recent times: multiclub ownership and major investment in European soccer by state-related entities in the Gulf region. Both have changed the beautiful game, and neither will be the same again in the wake of what has been described as the biggest scandal ever in English and European soccer.
“We always think that we’ve got an enormous integrity, the Premier League, that we are the sort of league that sets the standard, and that it’s other leagues that have got corruption, fraud, doping scandals, match-fixing, referee scandals,” said Gary Neville, the former Manchester United star who is now a leading pundit in English soccer. “This is now coming to our country. … This is the greatest export that we have in our country. At the moment we’re being dragged through the mud.”
Long overshadowed by local rivals Manchester United, in 2008 City was bought by Abu Dhabi United Group, headed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the deputy president of the UAE and a member of the country’s royal family. Helped by massive investment, the club, which had last won the English championship in 1968, went on to win seven Premier League titles, becoming champion of Europe in 2023 and a global force with a worldwide following.
Yet on Sept. 29, England’s Premier League announced that City had been found guilty by an independent commission of 114 out of 115 charges of breaching financial rules over a nine-year period from 2009 to 2018. The commission found the club, which maintains its innocence, guilty of overstating revenue by 855.2 million pounds ($1.13 billion) and understating expenses by 66.2 million pounds — more than 900 million pounds of financial misstatement in order to break the rules and pay more for players than would otherwise have been allowed.
City is appealing against the finding, so it may take some time for sanctions to be announced, but with the Premier League season ongoing (at the time the scandal broke, the club was top of the standings after five games), the world is watching.
City’s success with its new owners was noticed. In 2011, Qatar Sports Investment, a state-backed private investment fund, took over Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), an underachieving French club. It took two transfer fees — still the two highest ever — to bring in Kylian Mbappé and the Brazilian superstar Neymar. Argentina’s Lionel Messi also arrived in Paris. PSG came to dominate French soccer, and finally had success in Europe with the 2025 and 2026 UEFA Champions League titles.
In 2021, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund took over Newcastle United, another underperforming English club with potential. There has not yet been the same kind of success at Newcastle, though it has been more difficult for the club’s Saudi owners to embark on massive spending sprees because of the kind of financial regulations that City has been found guilty of breaking.
Such state ownership may never be the same again. There has been some disquiet in England, and elsewhere, about the growing control of clubs by U.S. private equity firms, but there has long been controversy about national actors. Part of this is the competitive aspect. Being backed by some of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds can distort the market and raise transfer fees and salaries at all levels of the professional game.
There are also accusations of “sportswashing,” the charge that these countries wanted to be associated with popular European competitions and fund success in order to improve their international images, damaged due to human rights violations. Khaldoon Al Mubarak, City’s chairman and CEO of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund, said in 2009 that “how we are handling this project is telling a lot to the world about who we are.” Recent events may show that this narrative can work both ways.
There have been calls in France for Qatar’s ownership of PSG to be looked at. In September, it was reported that PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi was under investigation for a potential conflict of interest, given his role with the club and also with the Middle East broadcasting giant beIN Media Group. He has faced several legal challenges in the past. The Saudi-led takeover of Newcastle in 2021 came three years after the prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in the country’s consulate in Istanbul and was seen, rightly or wrongly, by much of the U.K. media as a ploy for international rehabilitation.
It is difficult to measure how much of City’s glory, even at the peak of its success, was reflected toward Abu Dhabi. There is little doubt, however, that the fallout from the current scandal has been hugely negative for the owners, who are being more widely talked about than at any time when trophies were being lifted. Never popular in general, the environment around state-owned clubs will be more hostile than ever before. All parties may start to wonder whether it is all worth it.
The British government has already been dragged in and is struggling to respond. Reports have suggested that influential figures in the UAE have made it clear that Emirati investments in the U.K., which amount to over 30 billion pounds, could be under threat if there are serious punishments.
Britain’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took office in July after nine years as the mayor of Manchester, said, “I would be really concerned to lose them [as owners of Manchester City].”
“They’ve been such a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester, and obviously the building of Manchester City into the global force that it is,” Burnham added. Burnham then said he could not get directly involved. It was seen as perhaps the first misstep in his new prime ministership. Downing Street later issued a clarification saying that “there can’t be any suggestion that anyone is above the rules.” The statement continued: “If wrongdoing is established, those responsible should face the appropriate consequences.” The word “if” was subsequently changed to “wherever.”
On Sept. 14, two weeks before the judgment was announced, Al Mubarak met Britain’s Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds in Downing Street. According to reports, Al Mubarak already knew of the guilty verdict. London’s Daily Telegraph said that Downing Street did not dispute reports that the decision to find City guilty had “undermined” the UAE’s “appetite for future grand-scale UK commitments.”
A reconsideration of European investment is made even more likely by the worsening financial situation in the Gulf region. Spending in all sporting sectors had already been slowing down. In 2021, Saudi Arabia started LIV Golf, an alternative golf tour that was designed to rival the traditional PGA Tour. A number of leading golfers decided to join the upstart competition, but in April the Public Investment Fund pulled the plug on its funding, which had reached a reported $5 billion. Five months later, LIV filed for bankruptcy.
It is perhaps not a coincidence that the move came shortly after the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran. With the U.S. using bases in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to attack Tehran, those countries have been on the receiving end of Iranian retribution. Security threats and disruption to energy exports mean that the region’s economies have taken a serious hit.
“How long can the international economy withstand the results of what is happening in our region?” asked Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed al-Ansari at a press briefing in Doha in September, adding that the conflict had created an “unbearable” strain on the global economy. In May, the International Monetary Fund predicted that Qatar’s economy would contract by 8.6% in 2026. In the second quarter of 2026, Saudi Arabia’s contracted by 4.7%. Amid economic uncertainty, there is less support for foreign investments, especially in the unpredictable world of competitive sports.
A renewed focus on domestic issues is likely. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 aims to diversify an economy that has long been dependent on oil and build a sporting industry that can provide revenue, employment and inspiration, amid concerns that the population has become increasingly overweight. More than Newcastle, Saudi Arabia is increasingly focused on preparing for the 2034 World Cup, 12 years after Qatar took to the international stage by being the first Arab nation to host the tournament.
The multiclub ownership model is now a part of soccer. The energy drink company Red Bull has several clubs, as do others, including the Chinese investor Chien Lee. In addition to PSG, Qatar Sports Investment owns Eupen in Belgium and Portugal’s Braga.
Manchester City was the first, however, to build a global network. The City Football Group (CFG) has become the standard-bearer of multiclub ownership and, at its height, covered 13 clubs across five continents with the Premier League team at the center.
“Established in May 2013, the CFG approach ensures that every club remains authentic to its fans and community, plays entertaining football and benefits from being part of a global organisation that applies the world’s best expertise on and off the pitch,” the group’s website boasts. “CFG pioneers and delivers a consistent underlying approach to talent development, fan experiences, sports entertainment, commercial opportunities and community impact. More than one billion followers worldwide support and connect with their CFG clubs.”
It is a phenomenon that causes sporting complications. In European club competitions, one owner can’t have two representatives. In 2025, Crystal Palace won its first-ever major trophy, defeating Manchester City in the FA Cup final, but the South London club was unable to enter the Europa League, the continent’s second-tier tournament, due to Lyon already being there, since John Textor was the largest shareholder in both clubs at the time of registration.
Chelsea’s owners also own Strasbourg FC. Fans of the French club complain that their team plays second fiddle to its much bigger London cousin. In January, Chelsea took Strasbourg’s highly rated head coach, Liam Rosenier, in the middle of the season, much to the anger of fans who see their status as that of a feeder club.
City’s network was wider. In 2013 and 2014, fans in the U.S. and Australia were supporting New York City and Melbourne City, teams that played in the same sky-blue shirt that had become increasingly famous around the world. The group also had clubs in Belgium, Uruguay, India, Spain, China, Brazil, Japan and Italy. It has created a network, not just of players and coaches but of know-how and experience.
The current scandal has fans and officials in other countries concerned about any potential fallout and complications. Simon Pearce is a board member of Manchester City and also of the Australian Professional Leagues (APL), the entity that has operated the country’s A-Leagues since 2020. He is the vice chair of A-League club Melbourne City, described by The Times of London in early October as “the most powerful man in football in Australia.” Authorities down under will take time to digest and review what has happened in England. When asked whether Melbourne’s Manchester links could damage the reputation of the league in Australia, APL’s chief executive Steve Rosich said that Australia is not alone. “The international football economy is intertwined, so all parties will be reviewing that in time,” Rosich said.
Over on the East Coast of the U.S., fans of New York City are worried. “The question, though, is whether fines, especially if they are drastic, would impact CFG’s ability to fund the Major League Soccer team and other CFG sides,” wrote NYC FC blogger Caitlun Chale. “In complete honesty, it is difficult to give an answer that is 100% certain. At this time, one can only wonder and examine the possibility of any domino effect from the verdict.” She added that new owners could possibly be found.
Last December, CFG withdrew from India, leaving Mumbai City. One official at the Indian FA told me last week that this was seen as a big blow to Indian soccer at the time, but they are now glad that the subcontinent is free of connections to the current scandal.
Whether there is appetite to regulate multiclub ownership remains to be seen, but the days of CFG, with Manchester City as the sun around which the others revolve, may well be numbered. And the next time a club is courted by a European giant at the center of a network, fans and league authorities may think twice about getting into bed with a big name.
The same could be said of everybody connected with the Manchester City scandal. It is not over yet and, whatever happens to the club, events in England in September may eventually be seen as heralding the end of a number of eras, on and off the pitch.