Thread by @StanisElsborg

🧵The sponsors of Manchester City

Okay, so I tried to look into some of the sponsors of #ManCity – the state-run project from #AbuDhabi.

It’s long but I hope it is worth it. mancity.com

First and foremost, it is worth mentioning that #ManCity is part of City Football Group (CFG), established in 2013. From 2008-2015, CFG was wholly owned by ADUG, a private investment and development company belonging to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. cityfootballgroup.com

Today, CFG is majority owned by Newton Investment and Development LLC, which is owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and with a significant minority shareholding held by global technology investment firm, Sliver Lake (18.16%).cityfootballgroup.com

CFG has total or partial ownership of twelve clubs Manchester City, New York City FC, Melbourne FC, Yokohama F. Marinos, Montevideo City Torque, Girona Futbol Club, Sichuan Jiuniu FC, Mumbai City FC, Lommel SK, ESTAC, Palermo FC, Bahia SAF, and partner Club, Club Bolivar.

Sheikh Mansour is also the brother of UAE president HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. They own the Mubadala Investment Company — a sovereign investor — that manages a diverse portfolio of assets and investments in the UAE.

One of #ManCity’s relatively new partnerships is with Aldar Properties, which is backed by Mubadala Investment Company, whose CEO by the way is also Man City’s Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak. Masdar, also backed by Mubadala, is also a sponsoring Man City. mancity.com/club/partners/…

Khaldoon Al Mubarak is or has also been the chairman of Melbourne City FC, Mumbai City FC, on the board of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, and Emirates Global Aluminium.

Khaldoon Al Mubarak also has a brother: Mohamed Khalida Al Mubarak. He is the chairman of The Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi, which is behind another of Manchester City’s sponsors called “Experience Abu Dhabi”.

“Experience Abu Dhabi” manage the emirate’s tourism sector and market it internationally through a wide range of activities and major events, e.g.: PGA European Tour, Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the ITU World Triathlon Abu Dhabi.

The most prominent sponsor of #ManCity is Etihad Airways, one of two flag carrier airlines of the United Arab Emirates. Etihad Airways is on the front of #ManCity’s player jersey and also in the name of the clubs stadium: Etihad Stadium.
etihad.com/en-gb/corporat…

.@derspiegel realesed emails that appeared to show that ADUG, City’s owner and run by Sheikh Mansour of the Abu Dhabi ruling family, was mostly funding the £67.5m annual sponsorship of the club’s shirt, stadium and academy by his country’s airline, Etihad.
spiegel.de/international/…

City were found guilty by Uefa’s club financial control body of having falsely inflated their sponsorship revenues. The guilty finding followed @derspiegel's investigation of the “leaked” emails and documents in November 2018.
spiegel.de/international/…

The investigation by Uefa led ultimately to a two-season Champions League ban and €30m (£25m) fine, City’s response was uniform: scorn, outrage, denial.
theguardian.com/football/2020/…

The findings that led to Uefa deciding that #ManCity were guilty of a “serious breach” of FFP regulations and imposing a two year Champions League ban was eventually overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport: “time-barred” was the argument.
theguardian.com/football/2020/…

#ManCity is also sponsored by First Abu Dhabi Bank, owned by Abu Dhabi Investment Council, the chairman being Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi.

#ManCity is also sponsored by The Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental, owned by The Government of Abu Dhabi. And by e& (formerly known as Etisalat Group), founded in Abu Dhabi. mancity.com/club/partners/e

.@PhilippeAuclair made this stunning article @JosimarFotball about #ManCity’s training kit sponsor, cryptocurrency exchange OKX.
josimarfootball.com/city-of-contro…

Days after announcing that they had made 8Xbet their “official Asian betting partner’, #ManCity closed the sponsorship deal with OKX. You can read @PhilippeAuclair , @JournoAndy, @jckkrr and @MenarySteve's amazing investigation for @JosimarFotball 👇
josimarfootball.com/no-questions-a…

Here is a more recent article by @jckkrr and @PhilippeAuclair on 8XBet.

“Behind 8XBet’s Great Wall”
josimarfootball.com/behind-8xbets-…

I also highly recommend @sportingintel’s brilliant recap at #ptg2022 on a decade of #ManCity's skullduggery and succes👇Also @james_corbett, @katpijetlovic. @PhilippeAuclair ends with a shocking view on football and unregulated/illegal sources of financing
vimeo.com/721879685

Last but not least, I would like to highly recommend this article by @NcGeehan: The Men Behind Manchester City: The Dark Side
josimar.no/artikler/the-m…

For some of the human rights issues related to the rulers of Abu Dhabi, take a look at this thread. [END of thread]

https://twitter.com/frankctangberg/status/1664940080044146689