Kieran Maguire: Man City set to swerve Government ban as new figures released
It is “highly unlikely” that a Government-backed independent regulator would ban the Man City ownership model.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about nation-state ownership in football.
City are owned by City Football Group, which is in turn majority-owned by Abu Dhabi United Group, the investment vehicle of Sheikh Mansour.
Mansour is the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and a high-ranking member of the Abu Dhabi royal family.
Analysis published by Nick Harris via Twitter last Friday (26 March), found that 85 per cent of fans support an independent regulator with the power to ban nation-state ownership of clubs.
Supporters of City and Newcastle United were the only two Premier League sides to broadly oppose the idea.
An independent regulator was proposed by Tracey Crouch MP in her fan-led review of English football in November last year.
But Maguire insists that such a body would do nothing to curtail nation states’ involvement in the game.
“It is highly unlikely,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“The Government is free-market by nature. Tracey Crouch has said that countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia are important trading partners.
“There would be an inconsistency if we’re going to encourage investment from these countries.
“I would think this would be outside the remit of the regulator. The focus is on financial stability rather than a moral or ethical standpoint.
“Although, in a post-Russian-war-in Ukraine environment, there will be more talk about it.”
City, who currently lead the Premier League, beat Burnley 2-0 at Turf Moor yesterday (2 April).
They made a £2.4million profit in their last set of accounts.
In other news, Man City chiefs “not happy” with Jack Grealish as they admit to £210m Aston Villa blunder.