Burnham's Manchester City hospitality dinners emerge in BBC records report

Andy Burnham attended two hospitality dinners with Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak while serving as Greater Manchester mayor, BBC News reported. The previously declared events were not individually identified in the Greater Manchester Combined Authority's latest account of his contacts with the club.

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The BBC said an earlier register recorded hospitality valued at £300 for an Everton match in August 2017, including dinner with Al Mubarak and then-council leader Richard Leese. Another entry listed dinner with the chairman at the Manchester derby in April 2018, valued at approximately £699.

The register has since been removed from the authority's website. According to the BBC, Downing Street said the dinners were declared hospitality at home games rather than separate meetings. The broadcaster has asked the authority why the dinners were not specified and sought clarification of its policy on publishing older declarations.

In its October 12 statement, the authority identified a formal meeting between Burnham and Al Mubarak at the government's Global Investment Summit in October 2021, arranged by the Department for International Trade. It also described an informal encounter in the stands at Vincent Kompany's September 2019 testimonial, saying Burnham's attendance at a small number of City home matches had been declared.

The authority also set out the role of sports clubs in mayoral business trips. It said City staff supported visits to China and Japan, while Manchester United representatives travelled to Austin and Dublin and Lancashire Cricket Club joined a delegation to India.

City's financial case remains contested. In its September 29 announcement, the Premier League said an independent commission found serious financial-rule breaches covering the 2009/10 to 2017/18 seasons, alongside failures to cooperate with its investigation. The league said sanctions would be considered separately at a further hearing.

Manchester City confirmed that it lodged an appeal on October 1. The club maintains its innocence and argues that the commission's conclusions contain errors of law, principle and fact. City said it would continue to respect the process and was restricted in making further comments while proceedings remained unfinished.