Mayor Andy Burnham has penned a letter accusing the Premier League of malpractice and “abuse of process” after they issued Everton with a points deduction for breaches of FFP earlier this month.
A lifelong Everton fan, the Mayor of Greater Manchester has lodged an official letter of complaint against the footballing body following his team’s punishment on 18 November, which included being docked an unprecedented 10 points in the table, leaving them in joint last place with Sheffield United.
The Aintree-born politician has now joined several others in contesting the top flight’s decision on the grounds that they decided to implement “new rules in the middle on an ongoing case” and that the independent commission is “flawed” in general.
Sharing his official complaint to the Premier League on social media, the 53-year-old equated their conduct during the investigation to an “abuse of process and regulatory malpractice”.
I am not saying @Everton do not have a case to answer. They do.
What I am saying is the process which led to the 10-point deduction is flawed.
The ruling should be declared null and void and a new process started following agreement on a sanctions policy with the 20 clubs.
As the Labour MP details in the lengthy statement, the sanctions policy was changed as recently August (months after the investigation into Everton’s finances first began) and argues that the one “should have had one in place before it commenced these proceedings and established this Commission”.
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Burnham goes on to concede that while the Toffees must still answer for irregularities in their bookkeeping — the club largely attributing their losses to post-pandemic recovery and the money invested in developing the new stadium — the points deduction should be “null and void” until a full agreement on due process has been agreed by all clubs.
To a similar effect, he also asked whether at any point the sanctions regime has been submitted to the 20 teams and, if so, why they haven’t been consulted before now.
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He also questioned why their £20 million breach of profitability and sustainability rules is worth a 10-point deduction but going to administration, i.e. unable to pay your way and creditors full stop, is deemed to be worth nine in comparison.
Everton fans have unsurprisingly left incensed by the Premier League’s decision with thousands of supporters protesting before their 3-0 loss to Manchester United on Sunday.
One thing that Andy Burnham’s letter doesn’t touch is also the Man City of it all, with countless football fans across the questioning raising an eyebrow as to why Everton have been charged but the blue side of Manchester has not despite their 115 charges.
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Although it is obviously a very complex case that won’t be resolved any time soon, in a nutshell, here are a few reasons why:
Many fans are wondering why there are still no updates on the club in the lighter shade of blue. 💰
Featured Image — Mayor of Greater Manchester (via X)/Everton (via Instagram)
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Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
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Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
27th November 2023 
