The British government could reportedly force Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour to sell the club amid the prospect of new sanctions against him. While the Premier League giants are still under investigation for 115 alleged breaches of financial fair play rules, the Cityzens could face a major setback if the club change hands before a verdict is handed down.
Since taking over in 2008, Mansour has transformed Manchester City into something almost unrecognizable. The time before the takeover now feels like a distant memory; the light blue half of Manchester has gone on to win eight Premier League titles, the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, the Club World Cup, three FA Cups and seven League Cups – more than double the club’s previous collection of major trophies following the UAE-backed takeover.
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It’s fair to say that City have had a golden age, where their dominance of English football under Pep Guardiola borders on the historyless. But while the club is still fighting its case against the Premier League, the owners are also still involved in an ongoing battle with human rights organizations – a battle that could provide the decisive blow instead.
Why Sheikh Mansour could be forced to sell Manchester City
The Athletic’s reporting comes after the human rights organization FairSquare has asked the British government to consider sanctions against Mansour. The nonprofit has argued that “if the British government is serious about stopping this terrible conflict,” then Sheikh Mansour is “a very obvious means of pressure.”
Manchester City’s owner is also vice president of the United Arab Emirates – a nation that has been accused of alleged support for “a paramilitary group accused of committing war crimes in Sudan,” as Athletic reporter Jacob Whitehead wrote on X:
“150,000 people have been killed in Sudan in the last two years. Calls are mounting to sanction MCFC owner and UAE Vice President Sheikh Mansour over the UAE’s alleged financing of the war. Measures by the British government will force a sale.”
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The UAE has been accused of arming the paramilitary force Rapid Support Forces (RSF), one of the groups deeply involved in the Sudanese civil war. The Middle Eastern country has always denied any affiliation or support for any of the parties to the conflict, but talks about what should happen to Mansour have been prominent in British politics in recent years.
The situation could develop in the same way as Roman Abramovich’s exit from Chelsea
The sanctions at the disposal of the UK government include a series of measures designed to put pressure on a target state – including asset freezes and bans on transactions with UK businesses. The clearest example from recent times is the sanctions imposed on then-Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich in 2022, due to his alleged ties to the Kremlin following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Although Abramovich consistently denied the accusations, he was eventually forced to sell his stake in the Stamford Bridge club. Under current Premier League rules, any sanction imposed on Mansour will place the Manchester City owner in breach of the division’s ownership and director test.
The rules prohibit individuals from owning clubs if they have unsuspended criminal convictions, have violated football game laws, have been subject to insolvency proceedings, or are subject to government sanctions – the same rules that ultimately forced Abramovich to sell Chelsea. The domino effect of this has been that the Blues were taken over by a ruthless Clearlake regime, and that they are now struggling to compete at the level they used to. The same could happen to City.
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