Last week, English Premier League giant Manchester City FC was found guilty of all charges of breaching the league’s financial rules over a nine-year period. In its sharply-worded announcement, the Premier League explained that its independent commission found that the club had entered into “sham” contracts and image rights deals to in an attempt to boost revenues while artificially reducing costs. The independent commission has yet to announce its sanctions, which could come in the form of a reprimand, fine, suspension, points deduction or, possibly, expel the club from the Premier League. While much has been said about the unprecedented decision and the impact it could have on the league, a lot less has been said about the role of state ownership of football clubs, especially among authoritarian regimes, set the stage CIty’s financial breaches. To discuss this topic, as well as how the bombshell announcement could impact the UAE’s future soft power in sports, I brought in Hwyell Mills, publisher of The Signal, to discuss the subject. Based in Washington D.C., Hywel is the publisher of global current affairs media brand – The Signal. After starting his career in advertising in London, he went on to lead global partnerships at the men’s health foundation, Movember, before moving to the U.S. where he worked at The Guardian and then The Atlantic before joining John Gould to lead The Signal. The latest issue of The Signal’s quarterly print magazine is titled Shadow Play, which follows one of the most consequential parts of this development: how a game of local, member-funded clubs became one where three Gulf states own major clubs outright—two of which have dominated their leagues—and state-linked money reaches almost all the game’s biggest competitions worldwide. Shadow Play is for two overlapping but distinct audiences no publication has targeted together: the football fan who wants to understand how the sport they love is changing, and the current-affairs reader who wants to understand how dictators are building their influence. Over the past two decades, authoritarian regimes have systematically used football ownership and sponsorship to launder their reputations. United Arab Emirates. Qatar. Saudi Arabia. Rwanda. This isn’t a secret. Fans have called it out. Supporter groups have taken action. Journalists have covered it. Advocacy organisations have published reports. Many who love the game have some of the information, in fragments—but it’s hard to see the full picture. The magazine explores football from village-green origins to sovereign-wealth-fund ownership to Iran’s Blue Girl—in five charged sections. If you happen to be in London on Wednesday, October 7, The Signal is planning to celebrate the publication of Shadow Play with a night of food, drinks and friends at The Volley. RSVP here. Sports Politika is a media platform dedicated to the intersection of sports, power and politics. If you like what you see, upgrade to a paid subscription (or gift a subscription if you already have your own). We would appreciate if you could also like the post and let us know what you think in the comment section below. Get full access to Sports Politika at www.sportspolitika.news/subscribe
