Andy Burnham accused of accepting free Man City tickets while Manchester Mayor

Andy Burnham has been accused of accepting free Man City tickets while he was the mayor of Greater Manchester. The PM reportedly received tickets to three football games and an Ed Sheeran concert at the Etihad stadium. He was pictured in the stands with Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak in 2019 on one of those occasions. Mr Burnham also had a formal meeting with him two years later at an investment summit, it is claimed. His predicament echoes Sir Keir Starmer’s penchant for accepting freebies which emerged shortly after he entered No10 in 2024. The Labour leader has faced calls to reveal his interactions with the scandal-hit club, which has been found guilty of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules. He has been urged to release details of any meetings or hospitality received from the club during his nine-year stint as mayor. Mr Burnham responded by telling MPs that “all of my dealings” with Manchester City’s owners would be published. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority said he had been “a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions”. These included attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, “where he met the chairman informally in the stands”. The authority added that, as mayor, Mr Burnham had “a formal meeting” with Mubarak at an investment summit arranged by the Department for International Trade in 2021. UAE government sources have said they felt Mr Burnham was broadly sympathetic to their ownership of the club. Downing Street was contacted for comment. A Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) spokesman said: “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 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 staff supporting visits to China and Japan." City have been found guilty of breaching Premier League financial regulations between 2009 and 2018. The club maintained their innocence and appealed against the verdict. Mr Burnham said last month he would be “really concerned” if City's Abu Dhabi owners sold the club in the wake of the finding, crediting them with being “a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester”. Downing Street sought to clarify his comments afterwards, saying the Prime Minister was clear the judgment is serious and that where wrongdoing is established, those responsible should face the consequences. Shadow sports minister Louie French said the disclosure of Mr Burnham's meetings was “far from the full transparency that football fans deserve". Mr French said: “Burnham cannot hide behind the GMCA - he must take responsibility for this himself. We have been given precious little information about these meetings, what was discussed and what may have been agreed. “If Burnham has nothing to hide, why is he being so tight-lipped? His bizarre intervention in defence of Man City's owners has raised serious concerns among fans. It's time for the Prime Minister to come clean about his relationship with City Football Group so the public can make their own conclusions.”