Manchester City · ownership, sponsors and public power

The 115

38 actors and entities · 43 sourced connections · Updated 26 September 2026

The club at the centre

Manchester City sits inside a wider system of ownership vehicles, sponsors, state institutions and civic partnerships. Start with City Football Group and Newton, then follow Sheikh Mansour, Khaldoon Al Mubarak and Simon Pearce. Their documented roles explain how the football network connects to Abu Dhabi. CFG ownership and board ↗

Three branches worth following

Aabar’s historical sponsorship opens a route to IPIC and separately to the 1MDB proceedings. Manchester Life links the club’s former ownership vehicle to Manchester City Council and housing development. The 8Xbet branch leads to TGP’s historical British white-label operation and the Gambling Commission’s regulatory action. Each step has its own evidence; proximity does not transfer responsibility. City’s Aabar announcement ↗ · Manchester Life announcement ↗ · TGP regulatory action ↗

What “The 115” means

The title refers to the familiar name for the Premier League financial case, not to 115 people or 115 final findings. The February 2023 referral sets out the alleged breaches. City’s September 2026 response says the proceedings remain ongoing and maintains its position. Read the separate UEFA/CAS record on the existing City dossier; it is not the Premier League case. Premier League referral ↗ · City’s latest response ↗ · Financial-case dossier ↗

The boundary of the evidence

The graph does not allege that Manchester City participated in the 1MDB scheme, that every sponsor committed misconduct, or that an official’s overlapping jobs prove corruption. The unanswered funding, image-rights, gambling-ownership and property-return questions from the research remain in the editorial intake until their specific claims can be checked.

Read all 43 graph connections and sources

This accessible list contains the same relationships as the 3D graph. A path does not imply shared responsibility.

Manchester City → City financial caseSubject of Premier League financial-rule referral; reported September 2026 findings remain unpublishedSource-backed relationshipInspect source ↗

Premier League → City financial caseReferred five families of alleged breaches to independent commission in February 2023Source-backed relationshipInspect source ↗

Independent commission → City financial casePrivate commission; final award to be published under league rules; reported decision not yet publicSource-backed relationshipInspect source ↗

City Football Group → Khaldoon Al MubarakFounding chairman of CFG and chairman of Manchester CitySource-backed relationshipInspect source ↗

Khaldoon Al Mubarak → MubadalaManaging director and group CEOSource-backed relationshipInspect source ↗

Khaldoon Al Mubarak → Executive Affairs AuthorityChairman of Executive Affairs AuthoritySource-backed relationshipInspect source ↗

Simon Pearce → Executive Affairs AuthoritySpecial adviser to chairmanSource-backed relationshipInspect source ↗

Simon Pearce → Manchester CityMember of Manchester City board since 2008Source-backed relationshipInspect source ↗

Silver Lake → City Football GroupMinority investor, nearly 17% per CFGSource-backed relationshipInspect source ↗

Etihad Airways → Manchester CityClub commercial partner; sponsorship revenue was disputed in distinct UEFA proceedingSource-backed relationshipInspect source ↗

Etisalat → Manchester CityHistorical sponsorship reviewed in CAS award; allegation time-barred thereSource-backed relationshipInspect source ↗

UEFA → Manchester City2020 UEFA sanction later overturned in part on CAS appealSource-backed relationshipInspect source ↗

CAS → Manchester City2020 award overturned European ban; upheld failure to cooperate and reduced fineSource-backed relationshipInspect source ↗

UAE → Sheikh MansourUAE vice president and deputy prime ministerSource-backed relationshipInspect source ↗

Sheikh Mansour → Newton LLCWholly owns Newton Investment and Development LLCSource-backed relationshipInspect source ↗

Newton LLC → City Football GroupMajority owner of City Football GroupSource-backed relationshipInspect source ↗

City Football Group → Manchester CityManchester City is a CFG clubSource-backed relationshipInspect source ↗

Aabar Investments → Manchester CityHistorical club sponsorship; confirmed by the club in 2015Club announcement · 2015Inspect source ↗

IPIC → Aabar InvestmentsAabar was described as an IPIC subsidiary in the 2015 announcementClub announcement · 2015Inspect source ↗

Khadem al-Qubaisi → Aabar InvestmentsAabar chairman quoted in the 2015 sponsorship announcementClub announcement · 2015Inspect source ↗

Aabar Investments → Manchester City WomenSupport identified in City's January 2015 partnership announcementClub announcement · 2015Inspect source ↗

Aabar Investments → City Football SchoolsSupport identified in City's January 2015 partnership announcementClub announcement · 2015Inspect source ↗

Aabar Investments → City international academiesSupport identified in City's January 2015 partnership announcementClub announcement · 2015Inspect source ↗

City Football Group → Martin EdelmanBoard member; corporate profileDocumented relationshipInspect source ↗

Martin Edelman → Manchester LifeChairman of Manchester Life; corporate profileDocumented relationshipInspect source ↗

Simon Pearce → Manchester LifeManchester Life board role; corporate profileDocumented relationshipInspect source ↗

Manchester City → John MacBeathBoard member; corporate profileDocumented relationshipInspect source ↗

Abu Dhabi United Group → Manchester LifePartner in the Manchester Life housing initiativeGovernment announcement · 2014-06-23Inspect source ↗

Manchester City Council → Manchester LifeCouncil partner in the housing initiativeGovernment announcement · 2014-06-23Inspect source ↗

Abu Dhabi United Group → Manchester CityIdentified as club owner in the 2014 announcement; historical ownership vehicleGovernment announcement · 2014Inspect source ↗

Khadem al-Qubaisi → 1MDBDOJ settled civil forfeiture claims over assets allegedly acquired with misappropriated 1MDB fundsSettlement; allegations attributed · 2020Inspect source ↗

US Department of Justice → Khadem al-QubaisiCivil asset-forfeiture settlement concerning more than $49m of assetsSettlement · 2020Inspect source ↗

Khadem al-Qubaisi → Aabar-BVI (separate entity)DOJ complaint identifies involvement in creating the separately incorporated Aabar-BVIDOJ complaint; allegations · 2012Inspect source ↗

Mohamed al-Husseiny → Aabar-BVI (separate entity)DOJ complaint identifies involvement in creating the separately incorporated Aabar-BVIDOJ complaint; allegations · 2012Inspect source ↗

Aabar-BVI (separate entity) → 1MDBDOJ alleges diversion of 1MDB funds through Aabar-BVIDOJ complaint; allegations · 2012Inspect source ↗

Jho Low → 1MDBDOJ complaint describes alleged role in diversion of fundsDOJ complaint; allegationsInspect source ↗

Mohamed al-Husseiny → Aabar InvestmentsIdentified as Aabar CEO in DOJ complaintRole described in DOJ complaintInspect source ↗

Khadem al-Qubaisi → IPICIdentified as IPIC managing director in DOJ complaintRole described in DOJ complaintInspect source ↗

FINMA → Falcon Private BankFINMA found serious anti-money-laundering failures in 1MDB-related transactionsRegulatory finding · 2016-10-11Inspect source ↗

Falcon Private Bank → 1MDBBank handled 1MDB-related transactions subject to FINMA's findingsRegulatory finding · 2016-10-11Inspect source ↗

Manchester City → 8XbetAnnounced Asian betting partnership in 2022; historical commercial relationshipClub announcement · 2022Inspect source ↗

UK Gambling Commission → TGP EuropeLicence surrendered after regulator required a £3.3m penalty and improvementsRegulatory action · 2025-05-16Inspect source ↗

8Xbet → TGP Europe8xbet.co.uk listed among TGP's historical white-label domains, April 2020–August 2022Regulator FOI response · 2020–2022Inspect source ↗