Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to release details of his meetings with senior figures at Manchester City, following criticism of his response to the club being found guilty of all charges related to breaches of the Premier League's financial rules.

The guilty verdict and what it means

An independent commission determined that City had broken Premier League rules over a nine-year period, from 2009 to 2018, by using "sham" contracts with commercial partners to secretly channel more than £830 million into their football operations.

Burnham's time as mayor of Greater Manchester has drawn scrutiny over his relationship with City's Abu Dhabi ownership. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch demanded that No 10 release all records of meetings between the prime minister and senior figures at the club.

"I've been asked by the leader of the opposition to publish details of my meetings, which I'm happy to do and I'm going to," Burnham told The Rest is Politics podcast. He added that the sole significant meeting he could recall took place in 2021.

Burnham defends his earlier comments

Burnham had initially told the BBC he would be "really concerned" if City's owners chose to sell the club in the wake of the verdict — a remark he later insisted did not "downplay the seriousness of the findings." Sources told BBC Sport that some Premier League clubs were so "astonished" by his stance that they feared political interference in the appeal process.

"I don't think I misspoke," Burnham said. "The football issues are different from the investment issues. People will try and conflate those two things, but they shouldn't, in my view. The findings of the independent commission are serious."

Burnham served as mayor of Greater Manchester from 2017 until earlier this year — a period that coincided with sustained success for City. During that time, he championed Gulf investment as a driver of Manchester's economic growth, continuing a strategy that city leaders had pursued before his election as the inaugural mayor of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

What happens next

Sanctions against Manchester City have yet to be announced, and the club has lodged an appeal against the verdict. A separate independent appeal board will hear the case. City continue to deny any wrongdoing.

The independent commission, which held a 42-day hearing in 2024, found that "a number of important club witnesses gave false evidence in key respects and that some knowingly gave untrue and dishonest evidence." City were found guilty of all charges save one, which related to non-cooperation with the Premier League investigation.

City returned to the pitch for the first time since the verdict on Sunday, defeating Liverpool 3-0.