Der Spiegel: The UAE government sends funds to Manchester City through the company pays related payments

April 07 News German Der Spiegel published a long investigative column report that they have won multiple contracts from the Premier League Manchester City Club
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The holding company behind Manchester City appears to have broken the rules by paying millions of pounds to players’ agents and orchestrating a secret three-way deal to sign an underage player, investigations have revealed.
The trove of documents provided by whistleblower platform Football Leaks has provided insight into the inner workings of the club and Abu Dhabi’s government agencies – enough to leave several cracks in City’s legal defenses.

government funds

The Abu Dhabi United Investment and Development Company (ADUG), owned by Sheikh Mansour, was City’s official owner from 2008 until last year.
City were transferred to another company under Mansour’s name last year.
UAE officials have always insisted that ADUG is a purely private company, and Mansour’s cooperation with the English club is entirely private investment.
A legal representative of the Abu Dhabi Ministry of Finance testified at CAS that ADUG had “no connection at all” with the UAE or the government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

However, research by Football Leaks documents revealed that the payments made by ADUG to the club were approved by a state office.
According to internal documents, the Abu Dhabi Administrative Affairs Authority (EAA), a government agency focused on providing strategic direction, apparently manages the accounts belonging to ADUG.
Its head, Abu Dhabi’s de facto prime minister, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, heads the state investment fund and is also chairman of Manchester City.

Apparently, he authorized the movement of funds controlled by the government, which then flowed into the football club’s accounts.
A request for payment of the broker’s commission was sent to the regulator’s general counsel, and City sent an invoice from sponsoring company Etisalat to Omar Awad, the finance director of the government agency.
In January 2014, club board member Simon Pearce wrote to colleagues: “Omar works at the Regulatory Authority and has been very important and helpful in facilitating our financial management of Manchester City.
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According to information obtained by Der Spiegel, the investigation has focused on three main allegations:

1. Underage players are forced to pay money to sign a contract with Manchester City, which violates the rules.

2. The club sponsors in Abu Dhabi are suspected of providing the club with only part of their payments, much of which apparently came from Sheikh Mansour himself.

3. Roberto Mancini (Roberto Mancini) is currently the coach of the Italian national team, but from 2009 to 2013, he worked as a coach at Manchester City.
He is believed to have secretly received a substantial portion of his compensation through a fictitious consulting contract.

The Premier League declined to answer questions about the investigation.
Der Spiegel sent City a request for comment, but the response has always been a statement without addressing specific issues.
And the statement said the material and quotes taken from the Football Confidential File were fragmented.
In response to this sweeping allegation, Der Spiegel has chosen to provide comprehensive background information on each allegation.

Evidence of Manchester City’s close ties to the Abu Dhabi government can be found in the following documents: