What do the deleted records hide? A wide-ranging investigation into the British prime minister's relationship with Manchester City
A crisis that goes beyond the boundaries of sport
Andy Burnham has been forced to order a wider investigation into his dealings with Manchester City, following an investigation carried out by British newspaper "The Sun" into his relationship with the club, which is facing a crisis over allegations of breaches.
According to "The Sun", the Prime Minister has ordered a comprehensive manual review of every previous meeting he held with club officials and their owners in Abu Dhabi. The move coincides with the emergence of details about a seventh meeting.
Burnham and his team started the week insisting he had held just one meeting he considered significant with Manchester City officials, back in 2021.
That account collapsed. The newspaper revealed Burnham had two dinners with club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak in 2017 and 2018, while he was serving as Mayor of Manchester, and neither meeting appears in the public records after they were deleted from them.
Criticism of Burnham's relationship with Manchester City grew after he voiced concern about the possible departure of the club's Emirati owners, who had just been found guilty of more than 100 breaches of Premier League regulations.
Acting on the Prime Minister's instructions, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority issued a brief statement on Monday. It said nothing about the two dinners between Burnham and Khaldoon Al Mubarak.
The Prime Minister pledged full transparency, saying: "I have asked them to carry out a more comprehensive manual review of everything, because I want to make all possible information available to everyone. There can be no doubt about that, full transparency must be achieved."
Shadow minister Louie French wants an apology. "The Prime Minister promised the House of Commons that he would publish all of his dealings relating to Manchester City on Monday afternoon," he said last night.
He added: "That did not happen, and this is his personal responsibility. He must come to the House and offer an apology."
Beyond the two dinners, the newspaper revealed Burnham met senior Manchester City officials on at least five other occasions.
Newly disclosed documents showed the Prime Minister took part in a round-table meeting in China in September 2018, attended by City Football Group.
His attendance at an event marking the opening of a club office there was already known. The two-hour lunch with senior representatives of the group was not.
Records released under freedom of information laws showed Burnham's official agenda during a four-day trip included a lunch entitled the opening of the City Football Group office in Shenzhen, and the technical round-table meeting of chief executives.
Stamped "Classified: internal, personal and confidential", the documents showed the summit took place on 20 September 2018, from 11.30am until 1.30pm, at the One Shenzhen Bay building.
The Manchester China Forum covered a bill of £4,796, which included the costs of flights, hotels and expenses. It is a forum aimed at strengthening relations between the two regions.
In September 2019, Burnham appeared in a photograph alongside Khaldoon Al Mubarak as the pair watched Vincent Kompany's testimonial match at the Etihad Stadium.
Then came the meeting he describes as his only significant one with the Manchester City chairman, during the Global Investment Summit organised by the government in October 2021.
In July 2023, Burnham met Ferran Soriano, the chief executive of City Football Group, during an event to celebrate the completion of the roof of the Co-op Live arena in Manchester, a venue part-owned by Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour.
Two years later, in June 2025, he met Roel de Vries, the former chief operating officer of Manchester City, inside that same arena during an event linked to the Brit Awards.
