There are three for each of the 32 wards. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. English football has been warned it has allowed one of its major clubs to be exploited as a "branding vehicle" by an international regime accused of human rights abuses after a trial in Abu Dhabi, a country ruled by Manchester City's owner and his brothers, was widely denounced as repressive, involving torture, and "fundamentally unfair". He has been suspended while a full investigation is carried out. Football Leaks claims Euro Super League talks held by clubs, Man City: Uefa 'deceived' over FFP regulations, claims Der Spiegel, Man City and Paris St-Germain 'are cheating and should be punished', We have known since 2014, when City reluctantly accepted a settlement with Uefa that. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. Something went wrong, please try again later. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". The petition expressed profound respect for Khalifa and the Federal Supreme Council, the law-making organ of state run by the seven emirates' ruling families. Something went wrong, please try again later. The Emirati population, which numbers around one million, are still considered by commentators to be largely content, particularly given the country's stability in a Middle East in turmoil and civil war elsewhere. The 48-year-old outlined he had concerns upon Casemiro's arrival but the Man United ace has since quelled his fears. "The mistreatment described in the letters is consistent with other allegations of torture at UAE state security facilities," the statement said, "and indicates that torture is a systematic practice at these facilities". "He has had one of the biggest impacts that any politician I can think of has made. The UAE authorities have maintained there was due process and a fair trial. The UAE authorities argue it was not the petition itself that led to those posting it being arrested but the continued criticism with which they followed it up. Deputy Head of Audit & Risk Management. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. This is not to say that we should not care of course, or that the media should stop asking tough questions. The fact that a new FFP system was adapted earlier this year, meaning clubs are now prevented from running a deficit of more than 90m/season purely on transfer spending, suggests an acceptance that the original rules were flawed. xZ[o\~_q[`$6A ?$E iWRbi%[y_9+N6 xx|s#L}tYlNWW3T0}q=;q^8^aV9[vs!`JrB],ui]}Xj3*u\_FanE?tj=PL>=-Pe$fLNk4dr)|6c|FmH&zmh)R9OL/KaOO| Test yourself with these 12 questions, Do you know your local leaders from your Manchester suburbs? "It is a very difficult and ugly feeling when you cannot express yourself because you are in fear of being arrested. No arrests have been made and officers are working closely with Manchester council.. Sir Richard Leese was elected to the city council in 1984, Sir Richard (right) joined Mayor Andy Burnham in criticising the government's lockdown measures in October, Sir Richard helped oversee the transformation of East Manchester, which is home to Manchester City. No-one was killed in the explosion although many people were injured. The defendants, who include lawyers, teachers and academics, say this was a crackdown by an increasingly authoritarian state, after they voiced valid criticisms of the regime, calling for more democracy and freedom of speech. Its a city that was standing on the world stage. A team of Whitehall commissioners has been sent to oversee large parts of the dysfunctional council for at least three years an unprecedented step for a city its size while Labour has ordered an investigation into what went wrong. I must admit - Nicky Butt concedes he was wrong about Manchester United hero Casemiro. The allegations were brought to light by a town hall whistleblower. 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Three former officials at the Manchester Municipal Corporation and two of their co-accused have been convicted for their roles in a fraud scheme that fleeced the local government authority approximately $400 million. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Sheikh Khalifa, Zayed's oldest son, one of Mansour's half-brothers by a different wife, is the UAE president, said to be ailing in health. Remember that as far back as 2014, Uefa had concerns over the value of City's shirt and stadium sponsorship with airline Etihad, and deals from image rights and intellectual property. % Sir Richard Leese: Manchester City Council boss to quit after 25 years 8 September 2021 Getty Images Sir Richard Leese was elected to the city council in 1984 The leader of Manchester City. 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Amnesty said the treatment of the 94 in the United Arab Emirates, where Sheikh Mansour al-Nahyan's family, rulers of the richest emirate, Abu Dhabi, are dominant, "shows the authorities' determination to crush any form of dissent". We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. If they are authentic - (and Der Spiegel insist that their source - purportedly the founder of the Football Leaks whistleblower website - has assured them that he did not hack or steal the documents) - then many will inevitably conclude that they do not reflect well on the club, and raise serious questions over its integrity and its respect for the rules. I must admit - Nicky Butt concedes he was wrong about Manchester United hero Casemiro. Manchester City is run by Khaldoon al-Mubarak, the chairman, a senior Abu Dhabi government and business figure, who works principally for Sheikh Mohammed. Man United were heavily linked with a move for Dutch attacker Cody Gakpo prior to his move to Liverpool in January. Lucy Powell, Labour MP for Manchester Central, tweeted that he was "the giant of local government and local leadership". Following the probe Mr Burke, of Portside Close, in Worsley , whose job involved construction procurement, has now been sacked. No arrests have been made. Its findings led Merseyside police to launch Operation Aloft, under which 11 people have been arrested over allegations ranging from fraud to witness intimidation. Its heartbreaking to see what they did with that opportunity.. The remaining three submitted theirs throughout Tuesday. In a UK and Europe again in economic depression after the banking collapse, the real wealth from the oil and gas-rich Gulf states is eagerly sought, not only in football. Judge Grainger over the period reviewed the Crowns allegations and case and the defendants unsworn statements. The investigation centres on whether or not Mr Burke, from Worsley, Salford, profited from deals done by the council. The regime, whose army and security services are headed by Sheikh Mansour's brother, Sheikh Mohammed, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, maintains the 69 were operating as a front for the Muslim Brotherhood, and seeking to impose a conservative Islamist state, including by military means. The police investigation into the case is still ongoing. Dine wrote that the British government has followed the trial closely, and the foreign secretary, William Hague, had: "Raised the importance of ensuring the human rights of all Emirati citizens are fully respected. They were understood to include the 14m Bow Street site in Moss Side, along with a 6m school renovation project at Southern Cross primary in Chorlton. Feedback submitted to us on this form is monitored but you wont receive a reply. But given the new claims and details, most of which Uefa are unlikely to have been aware of originally, doing nothing will make it look weak, especially when City always maintained they had acted within the regulations. An internal audit picked up irregularities and an investigation was immediately launched. A senior town hall manager has been suspended amid claims of corruption. She ruled that Elliot and his co-conspirators, Harris and Roberts, were all guilty of conspiracy to defraud. Bev Craig has been elected as the new leader of Manchester City Council, becoming the local authority's first female chief. Amnesty said the trial showed "a deeply flawed judicial system" at odds with the "global image the UAE likes to project of itself as an efficient, forward-thinking country, which in many ways it is". At the 4 March hearing, Suweidi had reportedly told the judges: "I know that what I'm going to say may cost my life but I deny the charges and I ask the court to protect my life and the life of my family.". %PDF-1.4 He pointed to "gradual" reforms including "limited" elections of the Federal National Council, a consultative body, of which half the members are selected by the regime, half elected by a minority of the Emirati population. Many of the council's staff are based at Manchester Town Hall . Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Federal corruption cases. Mubarak has always emphasised that City is a private business acquisition by Sheikh Mansour, with Mubarak charged to make it profitable, worth more than the 1bn spent, in 10 years. Combine that fatigue with fans' tribalistic loyalty to their team, and it is easy to see why sport seems so able to withstand such controversies. Such a denial now appears undermined. Last updated on 7 November 20187 November 2018.From the section Football. Whether it is top clubs jostling for a bigger share of TV money, La Liga staging matches overseas, a proposed new Saudi-backed club World Cup, or the threat of a breakaway European Super League, or City apparently flouting FFP, the rules and the established order, seems to be under threat. But football surrendered the moral high ground a long time ago, and many observers therefore have become jaded as a result. Meanwhile, in handing down her judgement, Judge Grainger found Elliot guilty of 17 of the 25 counts brought by the Crown. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The wider criminal investigation is ongoing with Liverpool braced for further revelations. No other individuals at Manchester council are thought to be under suspicion and nobody else has been brought in for questioning, it is understood. This Anti Fraud and Corruption policy describes our overall approach to . As they include middle-aged, educated people, they say it is ridiculous to accuse them of believing they could overthrow the regime, given the wealth,might and security apparatus of the UAE. in 2016 after the European Commission ruled that preferential loans to the clubs and deals on tax and property constituted illegal government help. In July two lawyers who had defended Ahmed Mansoor in the "UAE 5" trial, Dr Mohamed al-Mansoori and Dr Mohamed al-Roken, were arrested. Fraud ii. A Liverpool Echo poll of thousands of their readers found that 69% intended to change their vote in the impending council and mayoral elections. 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Mansour is among the most powerful group in Abu Dhabi with the crown prince Sheikh Mohammed and their other "full" brothers by Sheikha Fatima, one of the six wives married to the former ruler, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan. In addition to Bokhari, Mayor Pro Tem Julie Eiselt, Councilman James Mitchell, and Councilman Dimple Ajmera sat on the committee. So far it has refused to comment "due to confidentiality obligations" which it says must be respected, and it may well conclude that its own rules do not allow for City to be sanctioned for a second time after the 2014 settlement. Forty-seven councillors got suspended over Militant we could lose 60.. In this meeting, of a desperate UK economy with Abu Dhabi's fortunes, there is a limit to the UK government's disapproval over allegations of torture and flaws in the UAE legal system. The council is controlled by the Labour Party and led by Bev Craig. The people arrested were mostly members of a long-established Muslim social organisation, al-Islah, who say they are not fundamentalist but do openly take issue with elements of the country's rule. Yip, a former Labour member who left the party 20 years ago, said he had been shocked by the lack of contrition this week from some of those leading the council over the past five years: Has one of them had the decency to hold their hands up and say sorry? Several were given severe sentences, including the lawyers Mohamed al-Roken and Mohamed al-Mansoori, both sent to prison for 10 years. Glittering drama based on the audacious Brinks-Mat security depot heist, A corrupt copper and a Leeds gangster are bound together by decades of dishonesty. While Arsenal, United and Chelsea are nearing the start of this Premier League season still publicly talking about bids for big-name players, City have quietly spent 87m on four stars for the new manager, Manuel Pellegrini. The governments damning verdict on Liverpool city council was summed up by a single word on the front page of the local newspaper: Failed., The feeling of many Liverpudlians was one of shame, anger and betrayal. Elliots mother, Myrtle and a former bank teller, Radcliffe McLean are the other two defendants whove been set free. He and I have been there together at difficult moments.". The trial before the Manchester Parish Court started last year. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Labour figures fear losing the mayoralty, a position created by Anderson in 2012, would cast them into the wilderness because the mayor selects their own cabinet and would be unlikely to pick members tainted by the corruption scandal. The authorities argue there is no connection between that case of the "UAE5", and the arrests and prosecution of the "UAE 94" that followed last year. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. On 10 June 2012, another Emirati, Saud Kulaib, tweeted that Suweidi was "being exposed to severe torture under the supervision of a high official". In an emergency, visit our emergency contact details page. Amnesty and HRW denounced the "mass trial of 94 government critics", arguing that the convictions were: "Based on a fundamentally unfair trial probably violated the right of free association was marred by the denial of legal assistance during pretrial incommunicado detention, and allegations of torture. Man United were heavily linked with a move for Dutch attacker Cody Gakpo prior to his move to Liverpool in January. A few weeks later, the city was targeted by a suicide bomber who killed 22 people at a concert in Manchester Arena. And secondly, that City under a scheme called Project Longbow set up a shell company to pay players for image rights, saving millions more from the wage bill. Whistleblowing - Manchester City Council Whistleblowing This form has a maximum of 4 pages Use this form to report any serious concerns you have about malpractice or wrongdoing in the. ", Nicholas McGeehan, UAE researcher for HRW, describes the country in the light of the recent trial as increasingly "a black hole" for many basic human rights: "In this situation, a Premier League club is being used as a branding vehicle to promote and effectively launder the reputation of a country perpetrating serial human rights abuses," he said. It could slash the number of councillors by two-thirds, from 90 to 30, potentially tilting the balance of power away from Labour for years to come. Now I finally have relief from endometriosis', Police searching for wanted teen over a 'serious assault', Heywood: Man wanted on suspicion of violent crimes, Water company issues update after pipe bursts in Bolton, Relaunch of Sing! What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? Read about our approach to external linking. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Terry Burke. 65,550 - 70,785 per annum. "That should be of concern to football supporters as well as human rights organisations. The prime minister himself has been persona non grata in Liverpool since it was cast as a self-pitying city in a Spectator article in 2004, when he edited the magazine. Thursday, March 2, 2023. The 94 were tried on charges of plotting to overthrow the UAE government, which remains adamant this was proven against the 69 convicted. Clubs that are backed these days not just by private investors, but by the rulers of entire petro-states, armed with sovereign wealth funds. Former Councilmen Jose Huizar and Mark Ridley-Thomas face criminal charges for racketeering and bribery, respectively. Global Edition. ", On 17 July, Katherine Dine, a British government official, wrote to Rori Donaghy, campaign manager at the UK-based Emirates Centre for Human Rights, which is pressing the case of the convicted. GB Building Solutions has launched its own investigation after Manchester council. Federal investigators have implicated much of Detroit's city hall in a corruption probe involving council members and their staffs. Others however, may not find it quite so easy to excuse a controversy that is rapidly becoming one of the most serious in the decade of Abu-Dhabi ownership at City, and which threatens to cast a shadow over the dominant force in English football. So far the claims of financial malpractice fall into two broad categories; firstly, that sponsorship deals were artificially inflated and not valued fairly or independent (as City previously insisted), with tens of millions of pounds thought to have been paid by commercial partners, actually coming directly and discreetly from the club's owner. On 26 June, Amnesty and HRW issued their most serious statement on the case, detailing allegations of "systematic" torture, based on hand-written letters smuggled out of the jails. Report of: Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer / Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management Summary It is the role of the Audit Committee "to obtain assurance over the Council's corporate governance and risk management arrangements, the control environment and associated anti-fraud and anti-corruption arrangements". Extent of Manchester City's corruption revealed in the full UEFA judgement - Etihad renegotiated deal four times despite being tied to club for 10 years Posted by Biscan's Boots 2 years ago. over financial fair play (FFP) rules to detract from pride in their club. Let us not forget that in 2014, rather than make an example of City and ban them from Europe, Uefa instead struck a deal that saw one of the richest clubs in the world handed a fine of just 17m. For a city that remains fiercely anti-Tory, there was barely a ripple of opposition to the intervention by Boris Johnsons government. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. Wednesday's indictment of Los Angeles City Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas makes him the third current or former L.A. councilmember to face . The accounts tallied with previous allegations of torture that HRW had reported in September, along with the alleged disappearance of one of the 94, Ahmed alSuweidi. Whereas Manchester became the world's first industrial city in the 1800s, Abu Dhabi did not have a paved road until 1961, when its deep reserves of oil began to be exploited. An alliance of seven emirates made in 1971, the UAE's native Emirati people have generally been considered content with their stable and wealthy way of life. Fernandinho, 30m from Shakhtar Donetsk, Jess Navas, 15m from Sevilla, Stevan Jovetic, 22m from Fiorentina and Alvaro Negredo, 20m, also from Sevilla, have been assembled to renew Sheikh Mansour's intentions for City to achieve Premier League and European success.