Manchester City’s attempt to overturn football’s most damning financial verdict is running headlong into an inconvenient paper trail — one written not by prosecutors or rival clubs, but by the club’s own shirt sponsor.
As City formally lodged its appeal this week against an independent commission’s finding of guilt on more than 100 charges of breaching Premier League financial rules, fresh scrutiny has fallen on a decade-old submission by Etihad Airways to the United States government that appears to flatly contradict the defence City is now mounting.
At the heart of City’s case is the claim that lucrative sponsorship deals — which the commission concluded were secretly topped up by owner Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group — were in fact genuinely funded by the Abu Dhabi government itself, not disguised payments from the club’s own ownership structure. It is a fine distinction, but a crucial one for City’s legal strategy.
The trouble is that Etihad, the state-owned airline that has adorned City’s shirts since 2009 and whose name has been on the club’s stadium since 2011, told U.S. authorities in 2015 something rather different. Responding to an investigation into state-owned carriers, Etihad described as “false” any suggestion that the Abu Dhabi government paid for its sponsorship of Manchester City. The airline insisted the £400m naming-rights and sponsorship arrangement was funded “from its own liquidity,” and that government equity and loans to Etihad were not subsidies but ordinary, “sensible” investment in a successful commercial enterprise.
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That account sits awkwardly beside the version City is now presenting to overturn the commission’s findings — and it is also hard to square with the club’s own argument six years ago at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, when it successfully fought off UEFA’s financial fair play charges by insisting all its sponsorship income came purely from its commercial partners, not from government or ownership sources at all.
The independent commission was unsparing in its assessment of City’s shifting explanations. In its 40-page core judgment, published this week, it dismissed the club’s account as something “concocted well after the event in an attempt to obscure and conceal the realities of the Disguised Funding Scheme.” City, for its part, says it possesses “a body of irrefutable evidence” that will overturn the ruling, and has accused the commission of errors of law, principle and fact that render the decision “unsafe.”
The Football Association, meanwhile, has made clear it is not simply a bystander. In a statement this week, the governing body said the commission’s verdict carried “significant implications for the integrity of the game” and confirmed it retains the power to pursue disciplinary action — not only against the club itself but against individuals found to have acted dishonestly, a category the commission says applies in this case. The FA is expected to hold off until City’s appeal concludes, a process likely to run until the end of January under Premier League procedure, before deciding whether to pursue its own case. Notably, the names of individuals implicated were redacted from the published judgment, though the FA could request an unredacted version from the Premier League.
The fallout has not stayed confined to football’s governing bodies. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s successor, Andy Burnham, has found himself at the centre of a political row after saying he would be “really concerned” if City’s Abu Dhabi owners sold the club, and praising them as “a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester” in the immediate aftermath of the guilty verdict. Downing Street was forced into two separate clarifications within a day, with a spokesperson stressing that “the initial judgement is serious” and that “there can’t be any suggestion that anyone is above the rules.”
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The Liberal Democrats have seized on the episode, with the party’s culture, media and sport spokesperson Anna Sabine drafting a pointed letter demanding Burnham publish every meeting and piece of hospitality he has received from City Football Group, the Abu Dhabi United Group or UAE government representatives — going back to his years as Greater Manchester’s mayor. “Football fans up and down the country deserve to know that the rules apply to everyone, however rich and powerful they are,” Sabine said, adding that Burnham’s rapid defence of the club’s owners invited legitimate questions about his relationship with them.
Former Manchester City and FA chairman David Bernstein has echoed those concerns, warning that political interference in an independent regulatory process was corrosive. “It is absolutely vital that this independent regulator can perform independently and without political interference,” he told the BBC, adding that scrutiny may yet need to extend to City’s board and ownership more broadly.
What began as a football governance dispute has thus widened into a story touching sponsorship law, state investment, and the propriety of political figures’ ties to one of the Premier League’s wealthiest and most powerful clubs. With City’s appeal now formally underway and the FA keeping its options open, the next few months promise further scrutiny of a case that, thanks to Etihad’s own words, already looks far harder for City to win than the club’s defiant public statements suggest.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Guardians will be facing off with a second-place team from the AL Central. For the third year in a row, rivals will clash. This time, it’s the Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox meeting for an ALDS showdown.
As usual, despite the Guardians winning the division, the team is filled with question marks. The offense is one of the worst in baseball and, realistically, the worst left in the playoffs. However, despite the stats, their timely hitting and hustle powered them to a division title.
For the White Sox, if you had guessed they would be the only team playing October baseball in Chicago, I think the whole world would call you insane. The White Sox went from one of baseball’s worst teams to a lineup ready to make some noise right now. This isn’t a team that will be happy with just an ALDS appearance; they’ve got guys who are ready for the moment.
Chicago looked great in their Wild Card series against the Astros. Not only did they look great, but they also won big with hitless performances from their best bat, Miguel Vargas. Unfortunately, they’ll face a massive step up in talent against a very good Guardians pitching staff.
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Parker Messick will be on the mound for game one in Cleveland, and he’s entering the series with plenty of momentum. Messick will likely finish on the podium in this year’s Cy Young race, and he’s already had great starts against the Sox. In just under 26 innings, he’s had a 1.99 ERA in four starts against Chicago.
However, Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt has his work cut out for him in game one. Hagan Smith will start for the White Sox, and the hard-throwing lefty poses challenges for the Guards. It’s no secret that Cleveland has struggled against lefties, with most of their best hitters hitting on that side of the plate. Will Vogt start David Fry or even Rhys Hoskins get the start, or will Nathaniel Lowe start despite his struggles against lefties?
Cleveland’s last-season heroics stole the division back-to-back years, but they weren’t enough in 2025 to get them past Detroit. Can they flip the script and win back the AL Central Crown, or will Chicago’s shocking playoff run continue with an ALCS appearance?
I’m going with the Guardians at -162 to win this series and advance to a matchup with one of their AL East foes.
Gary Neville believes that Manchester City’s owners should be tossed out of the Premier League as punishment for breaches of the English top flight’s financial rules. Speaking on Stick to Football, he said: “Manchester City will recover as a football club because Manchester City have been there longer than these owners, they’ll be there long after them, and it’s got an immense history.
“Points deductions, fines, transfer bans, removing the titles – not giving them to others, just removing the titles – it’s significant punishments. The only punishment that would be fair would be have huge consequences – the biggest consequence – would be removing the owners.
“That is the only consequence if I was Manchester City that I would be worried about. And as a fan of Manchester City, if you wanted to keep the investment that you’ve currently got, that would be the one I’d be most concerned about.
“However, if you’re in football and you’re thinking about consequence, what can be more serious than industrial-level financial doping that we’ve seen and they’ve been found guilty of? I’m not celebrating. I’m chilled. This is chilling.”
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Gary Neville has discussed Manchester City’s situation(Image: (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images))
New Ryan Field finally, finally, finally makes its debut on Friday night as the home of the Northwestern Wildcats, and the most expensive college stadium ever built certainly looks like it was worth the wait.
The $870 million state-of-the-art stadium has a capacity for 35,000 — all protected from the weather by a canopy — 200,000 square feet of parks and plazas and two 5,000-square-foot video boards. Not bad for the program with the most losses in college football history.
For their first game in their sparkling new home, the Wildcats (2-1, 0-1 in Big Ten) host Penn State (3-1, 0-1).
Both teams are coming off their first loss of the season, but Northwestern should feel much better about its loss than the Nittany Lions. The Wildcats gave reigning national champion and No. 5 Indiana all it could handle in a 29-23 loss in Bloomington, Ind. Meanwhile, Penn State gave up two touchdowns to Wisconsin in the final four minutes and blew a 17-point lead in a 24-20 loss.
Despite that, the Nittany Lions are 2.5-point spread betting favorites over the Wildcats.
While Penn State vs. Northwestern is the marquee attraction on Friday, there are other sports betting options that include a partial college football schedule and five NHL games. Below is a snapshot of what to watch and bet at the best sports betting apps, for Friday, Oct. 2. All times Eastern.
Since becoming an FBS program in 2025, the Blue Hens have been a much different team at home than on the road. At home, they are 7-1 and averaging 35.5 points per game while giving up 23.6. On the road, they are 1-7, scoring 20.7 points a game while coughing up 37.4. On Friday, they will face a Flames team that has lost only one game this season, but that defeat came on the road at James Madison. The SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates every college football game 10,000 times, says Delaware has an 82% chance to cover and assigns a ‘B’ grade to Blue Hens +6.5.
Just 22 teams remain undefeated, and two of those collide on Friday when the Hokies (4-0, 1-0 in ACC) host the Panthers (4-0, 1-0). Pitt quarterback Mason Heintschel has played to the level of his competition this season. In two games against non-Power Four teams, he is averaging 428 passing yards per game while throwing 13 touchdowns against zero interceptions. In two games against Power Four teams, he is averaging 167.5 passing yards and has zero touchdowns and one interception. The SportsLine Projection Model says Virginia Tech has a 54% chance to cover and gives a ‘C’ grade to the Virginia Tech point spread betting line of -2.5. Micah Roberts agrees. “Electric atmosphere in Blacksburg at night,” he told SportsLine.
Penn State at Northwestern
Time: 8 p.m. | Location: Evanston, Ill. | TV: FOX | Stream:Fubo (Try for free)
Could some of the money spent on New Ryan Field been diverted to upgrade the Wildcats’ run defense? Northwestern has been gashed by on the ground this season, giving up 199.3 yards per game, which ranks 128th in the country. That’s bad news against a Penn State offense that averages 183.5 rushing yards per game. The SportsLine Projection Model says the Nittany Lions have a 65% chance to win and assigns a strong ‘A’ grade to the Penn State money line betting odds of -139.
Detroit, which owns the longest playoff drought in the NHL (10 seasons), opens its season on Friday against the Rangers. The Red Wings are well rested, having sat since their final preseason game on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Blueshirts already are playing the second half of a back-to-back after beating the Lightning on Thursday in New York. SportsLine’s Matt Severance notes that rookie Dylan Garand is likely to mind the net on Friday for the Rangers. “He was very good last year but (he only made) three starts and (that was) when the Blueshirts were long eliminated,” Severance told SportsLine. Meanwhile, the SportsLine Projection Model says there’s a 51.1% chance the teams combine for six goals or more and gives a B grade to the Over on the Over/Under betting line of 5.5.
The reigning Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes will look to bounce back from a loss on ring night when they host the Capitals. Despite losing to Florida 1-0, Carolina killed all seven penalties and allowed only one goal. Severance notes that Washington goaltender Logan Thompson was not as good on the road (12-12) as he was at home (19-9) last season. In addition, “Alex Ovechkin opens presumably his final season with the Caps off an injury that affected him in the preseason,” Severance told SportsLine. The SportsLine Projection Model doesn’t entirely disagree. It says Washington has a 66% chance to cover and assigns a ‘B’ grade to the Capitals puck line of +1.5 (-205).
European football’s international window delivered an evening of rapid-fire drama on Thursday, as three of the five Nations League fixtures were settled inside the opening quarter of an hour, while Germany and Serbia played out a tense stalemate at the other grounds in action.
In Cardiff, Norway continued to look like one of the form sides in the competition, taking the lead inside 11 minutes through Oscar Bobb. The Manchester City forward was picked out by a typically incisive piece of play from captain Martin Odegaard, who ghosted into a pocket of space in front of the Wales back line before threading a perfectly weighted through ball. Bobb’s give-and-go finish gave the visitors an early cushion and left Wales, who went into the match searching for their first win of the campaign, chasing the game once again.
There was similarly swift breakthrough in Denmark, where Portugal struck in the 13th minute. With Cristiano Ronaldo left out of the matchday squad — a selection call that has reignited debate about the veteran forward’s long-term international future — it was Joao Cancelo who stepped into the spotlight. The Barcelona full-back combined in a slick one-two with Goncalo Ramos to split the Danish defence, before coolly dinking the ball over goalkeeper Kasper Hermansen to put the visitors ahead. Bruno Fernandes wore the captain’s armband in Ronaldo’s absence, underlining how Roberto Martinez’s side are beginning to plan for a future without their record goalscorer, even as questions swirl over whether the 1,000-goal milestone is being prioritised ahead of the team’s wider interests.
The night’s standout individual moment, however, came in Dublin, where Troy Parrott produced a goal that will take some topping all season. Ireland broke with a long clearance from goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, flicked on into Parrott’s path some 45 yards from goal. What followed was a mesmerising solo run: the striker nutmegged one defender, shrugged off another, cut back onto his favoured angle and slotted coolly under the onrushing Austrian goalkeeper. It was the kind of goal more readily associated with street football than international management-team tactics, and it sent the home crowd into raptures inside the opening 13 minutes.
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Elsewhere, Germany and Serbia could not find a way through each other in the early stages, though it was not for the want of trying. Bayern Munich’s Aleksandar Pavlovic came closest for the hosts, curling a free-kick narrowly wide of the far post as Jurgen Klopp watched on from the touchline with his trademark composure. Group A4 continues to take shape, with Wales now facing an uphill task to salvage anything from their remaining fixtures, while Norway’s attacking depth — led by the Erling Haaland generation of talent — continues to make them one of the most feared sides outside the traditional top tier.
Further afield, Greece hosted the Netherlands in a fixture still finding its rhythm as the evening’s other results flashed up around Europe. With qualification battles intensifying across every group, these October fixtures carry outsized weight: for sides like Wales and Denmark, who found themselves behind inside the first quarter-hour, there is now a familiar scramble to respond, while Ireland, Norway and Portugal will take real encouragement from starts that put the pressure squarely back on their opponents.
As the Nations League campaign builds towards its business end, nights like this one are a reminder of how quickly fortunes can turn in international football — a moment of individual brilliance, a well-worked move, or a single lapse in concentration can define 90 minutes, and with it, a team’s entire campaign trajectory.
Manchester City has won the English Premier League eight times over the last 14 years. Whether those titles will remain is one of a plethora of issues at stake after England’s top division charged one of its most high-profile clubs with more than 100 breaches of its financial regulations.
On Tuesday, the Premier League announced that an independent commission had found City had drawn up “sham contracts” as well as “relying on sham agreements to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs.” These contracts, dubious sponsorships and a number of other methods were, according to the commission’s report, used to inflate the club’s revenue to the tune of about £900 million (€1.05 billion) over the period between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.
The case has been ongoing for eight years after initial revelations from Der Spiegel, a German magazine, and Rui Pinto of the ‘Football Leaks’ website. City continues to deny any wrongdoing.
“The Club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case,” read a club statement. “Manchester City FC will now pursue the appeal avenues open to it, on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe.”
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On Friday, the club issued a further statement saying it had lodged a “comprehensive Appeal.”
What was the Premier League verdict on the Manchester City charges?
The 750-page report was damning, accusing City of inflating contracts and sponsorship deals, running secondary contracts off the books, making “concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation” and signing off inflated image rights deals to artificially boost their earnings. The report says all this enabled them to pass both Premier League and UEFA financial spending limits.
The Premier League’s chief executive, Richard Masters, described the case “as the most significant in Premier League history,” adding that the club “systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade.”
Although the Premier League, the world’s most commercially successful football league, has drawn some praise for its actions, others point out that it took Pinto leaking emails and media reports to take action. The report shows that Manchester City, which had won the league once in 71 years before being taken over by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2008, were consistently posting revenues way higher than any of their more established and successful rivals.
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Who are the key figures at Manchester City?
In this context, its the owners. The Abu Dhabi United Group, essentially an investment vehicle for the UAE royal family, bought the club in 2008. Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, know simply as Sheikh Mansour, fronted the takeover. He is a member of the ruling Al Nahyan family and the UAE’s vice president and deputy prime minister. Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who also holds several government positions in the UAE, was brought in as chairman.
Nation-state ownership of this type is controversial in European football. Manchester City’s owners have long been criticized for the country’s human rights record and using the club for sportswashing. Similar criticisms have been made of European champions Paris Saint-Germain, which Qatar owned and City’s Premier League rivals Newcastle United, which is owned 85% by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
As well as huge domestic success, City won the Champions League under Pep Guardiola in 2022-23Image: Jose Breton/NurPhoto/IMAGO
City’s CEO, Ferran Soriano, joined in 2012 as City expanded their ownership into foreign leagues, buying up clubs in the US, Japan and Australia. He replaced former head coach Roberto Mancini with fellow Spaniard Manuel Pellegrini before former Bayern Munich and Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola took over in 2016, ushering in the club’s most successful period.
How did Manchester City’s system work?
The club immediately started splashing out on big-money transfers after the UAE investment arrived. At the time, neither UEFA nor the Premier League had the tight financial rules they now have. UEFA introduced its Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules for the 2011-12 season, while the Premier League followed with its Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) in 2013-14.
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City’s free spending and relatively low commercial income meant they were likely to fall foul of such rules. The club was handed a conditional €60 million UEFA fine for losses in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons. They would later be banned from the Champions League on similar grounds in 2020 before being reinstated on appeal.
In an attempt to try and comply with these financial rules, City set up a system they called “Project Longbow” in 2012. The commission said much of this was genuine, but one arm of it was an agreement with a third party called Fordham that was, according to the ruling, “little more than a front.” Essentially, it reads, the club’s UAE owners “would be used (and were used) to enable Fordham to acquire from the club (at a sizeable, artificially inflated price) the club’s entitlement to benefit financially from its players’ image rights.”
In other words, City’s owners were pumping money into their own club through vastly inflated sponsorship and image rights deals so their income looked higher and they could spend more, particularly on player transfers and wages. The report also claims that City paid three individuals, whose names are redacted, through a third party to keep them off the books.
What happens next?
That’s the question on everyone’s lips. So far, no sanctions have been imposed on City, and the appeal will likely drag proceedings out even longer. Meanwhile, the club, which is top of the Premier League, faces Liverpool on October 11, after the international break.
While there is no precedent for such a tranche of charges, clubs have previously fallen foul of the Premier League’s PSR regulations. Everton were handed a 10-point penalty for a £19.5 million breach over a period ending with the 2021-22 season. This was based on a Premier League tariff of six points for the initial breach, plus an additional point for every £5 million the club overspent. Given that City’s overspending is close to a billion pounds, applying that would certainly relegate them, though the Premier League does not operate England’s second-tier league, the Championship.
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For now, it looks like City and the league will play on under a cloud. But if the verdict remains after appeal, clubs and individuals whose careers and honors stand to be impacted will likely come forward and litigate. City themselves could be relegated, docked points over successive seasons, face transfer bans or any combination of those things. The titles won in the relevant period could also be stripped.
This article was originally published on September 30, 2026. It was updated on October 2, 20206 with Manchester City’s statement confirming that it had lodged an appeal.
The Republic of Ireland took an early lead over Austria on Thursday evening at the Aviva Stadium, with Troy Parrott converting inside the opening quarter of an hour to give the hosts a 1-0 advantage in their UEFA Nations League Group B3 fixture.
Parrott, who has established himself as a key attacking presence for Ireland in recent campaigns, found the net in the 12th minute, with the goal credited as an assist from striker Adam Idah. The early breakthrough gave Ireland the kind of start managers dream of in front of a home crowd, settling nerves and forcing Austria onto the back foot in Dublin.
Ireland manager’s side lined up with Caoimhin Kelleher in goal behind a back four of Dara O’Shea, John Egan, Liam Scales and Jayson Molumby’s compatriot Jemal Abankwah. In midfield, the hosts fielded a blend of experience and energy with Festy Ebosele — known in matchday squad sheets as F Azaz — alongside Chiedozie Coventry Ogbene-adjacent options, and captain duties falling to O’Shea. Parrott and Idah combined up front to deliver the goal that broke the deadlock.
Austria, managed to a roster featuring Bundesliga-experienced names such as Stefan Posch, Philipp Lienhart and Patrick Wimmer, were forced to respond after falling behind early. Their side also included Christoph Chukwuemeka and Romano Schmid in a bid to unlock an Irish defence that, on the balance of the game’s opening stages, held firm.
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Both nations arrived at this Group B3 encounter looking to build momentum in the Nations League, a competition that has increasingly doubled as a proving ground for squad depth and tactical experimentation outside of major tournament windows. For Ireland, a home win would represent a significant statement result against an Austrian side that has regularly featured among Europe’s more competitive mid-tier nations in recent years.
The match was officiated by Allard Lindhout, with both benches showing strength in depth — Ireland could call upon the likes of Troy Parrott’s attacking partner Tom Cannon and midfielder Josh Cullen-type cover from the bench, while Austria held options including Michael Gregoritsch and Konrad Laimer in reserve, underlining the strength in depth Ralf Rangnick’s successor-era Austria sides have become known for.
Further details of the match, including any second-half developments, were not available at the time of writing. Ireland supporters inside the Aviva Stadium will hope Parrott’s early strike proves to be the foundation for a result that keeps their Nations League ambitions firmly on track, while Austria will be looking to their bench and tactical adjustments to find a way back into a contest that got away from them early.
The political and financial aftershocks of Manchester City’s guilty verdict in football’s biggest-ever financial fair play case are spreading well beyond the Premier League, with tax authorities, Westminster and Downing Street all now entangled in a row that shows no sign of settling before the club’s appeal deadline on Friday.
An independent commission this week found City guilty on all but one of 115 charges relating to breaches of Premier League financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, concluding that the club had used “sham” sponsorship arrangements and disguised funding, backed by owners Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), to mask the true scale of its finances from regulators. City deny all wrongdoing and say the decision contains “clear material errors, of law, principle and fact” that render it “unsafe.”
Now the Treasury Committee has waded in. Its chair, Dame Meg Hillier, has written to JP Marks, permanent secretary at HM Revenue and Customs, asking whether the tax authority has sought an unredacted copy of the commission’s report and whether it is alive to the “public interest” in the case. Her intervention follows a report from Tax Policy Associates alleging City may have failed to pay as much as £12m in tax tied to a “sham” contract involving former manager Roberto Mancini — a liability that, with penalties, could reportedly balloon to £24m.
Hillier was careful to acknowledge the limits of what HMRC can say publicly, noting that “taxpayer confidentiality may inhibit what you can disclose,” but pressed for assurance that the department understands the stakes. The request centres partly on the commission’s finding that City “utilised devices” to “disguise the true extent of certain club liabilities” — language that has caught the eye of MPs well beyond football’s usual regulatory bodies.
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City, meanwhile, are preparing a defence for their appeal that could reignite one of the most sensitive questions in modern football governance: where the line sits between a private football club and the state that surrounds it. According to reports first carried by the Daily Mail and the Times and corroborated by BBC Sport sources, City intend to argue that money which flowed into major sponsorship deals came directly from the Abu Dhabi government rather than from ADUG, the private investment vehicle owned by Sheikh Mansour. Premier League rules explicitly permit state bodies to sponsor clubs, meaning the distinction, if accepted, could undercut the commission’s central finding of a “disguised funding scheme” worth an alleged £830.69m.
The commission has already heard — and rejected — a version of this argument once. It described City’s prior explanation, that Abu Dhabi sponsors had simply sought and received government assistance to cover their own liabilities, as “untrue” and something the club had “concocted well after the event in an attempt to obscure and conceal the realities of the disguised funding scheme.” Whether a fresh appeal board reaches the same conclusion will likely determine not just City’s sporting punishment but the broader debate about ownership transparency across the league.
That debate has taken on an added edge given the position of City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who insists there is “irrefutable evidence” supporting the club’s case. Al Mubarak is listed as an Emirati diplomat on the UK government’s register of foreign representatives, a status that confers immunity from prosecution under criminal, civil and administrative law — a detail likely to fuel further questions about how closely the club’s leadership is bound to the Gulf state. Sheikh Mansour himself is a senior member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family and brother to the UAE president, a lineage human rights campaigners have long cited in accusing the club’s ownership of using English football to “sportswash” the UAE’s international image.
Separately, City’s shirt sponsor Etihad Airways has said it is weighing legal action against the Premier League over the fallout from the ruling, adding a commercial dimension to a dispute that has already drawn in regulators, tax officials and now, improbably, the Prime Minister.
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Andy Burnham found himself at the centre of a political storm of his own this week after telling the BBC he would be “really concerned” if City’s Abu Dhabi owners sold the club following the verdict, praising them as “a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester.” The Prime Minister went further, drawing a comparison to the disciplinary case against Everton — the club he has long supported — suggesting history might judge the City verdict as harshly as he believes it judged Everton’s.
The remarks prompted swift criticism, with shadow sports minister Louie French urging the government to “keep politics out of football.” Downing Street moved quickly to contain the row, with a spokesperson stressing on Thursday that “the initial judgement is serious and there can’t be any suggestion that anyone is above the rules,” while insisting the independent process “must be allowed to run its course and the outcome respected.” A spokesperson for Burnham similarly stressed the verdict was “serious” rather than retreating from the comparison entirely.
With City expected to formally lodge their appeal before Friday’s deadline, the case now sits at the intersection of sports governance, tax law and diplomatic politics — a combination that suggests the Premier League’s reckoning with its richest club is only just beginning, regardless of what a sanctions hearing eventually decides.
Mason Madden is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling and continues to make appearances on Ring of Honor. He was also a part of WWE for nearly 7 years and spent time on both NXT and the main roster. He recently made his debut for Pro Wrestling Rebellion (PWR), an Indian company owned by former WWE star Jeet Rama. In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling, Mason credited Mansoor for bringing him to India.
Madden started his training to become a wrestler under the tutelage of Booker T in 2016. In the same year, he was signed by the Stamford-based company but spent the next few years doing commentary roles. He started wrestling again when he joined the Retribution in 2020 and started appearing on RAW. He wrestled under the name “Mace” as a member of the group.
Thanks for the submission!
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He was later drafted to SmackDown where he started teaming with Mansoor as the Maximum Male Models. The partnership made it’s way to All Elite Wrestling as well where the duo still wrestles as MxM Collection. Mansoor is also the Chief Content Officer of Pro Wrestling Rebellion. In an Exclusive Interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling, Mason Madden was asked what inspired him to come wrestle in India. He hilariously responded by crediting Mansoor for his PWR debut.
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“Well, you know, My Tag Team partner owns the company, so I have to work with him haha,” he said.
Mason Madden competed in a Tag Team match at PWR Kranti, the company’s first event.
Mason Madden faced off against former WWE star Jeet Rama in a Tag Team match
Mason Madden was announced as a special member of Z-Company, a heel stable led by Zorawar in PWR. The AEW star was scheduled to team up with the group’s Toofan against former WWE stars Guru Raj and Saurav Gurjar (fka Sanga). However, Saurav was put into a 14-day judicial custody just a few days before the event for an alleged sexual harrasment case.
As a result, Jeet Rama replaced Saurav as Guru’s tag team partner at the event. The match was being advertised as a Handicap match before Jeet showed up as a surprise.
The whole MxM TV stable was at PWR Kranti as Mason wrestled in the tag team match while Mansoor and John Morrison faced each other in the World title qualifier.
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Sir Kevin Sinfield has raised over £1million at the end of day five of his 7 in 7: The Grand Finale challenge raising money for motor neurone disease charities.
This is Sinfield’s seventh and final ultra-running challenge to raise awareness and money for the MND community and he is running every day for seven days, visiting each of the home grounds of the 12 English Betfred Super League clubs.
His route will conclude on the pitch at Old Trafford ahead of Saturday’s Super League Grand Final between Warrington and Wakefield, with his son Jack in the squad for Trinity.
Sir Kevin Sinfield was with Hannah Cockcroft ahead of day five (Annabel Lee-Ellis/PA) (PA Wire)
Sinfield and his team surpassed their £777,777 target on day four and completed day five of the challenge in Salford, where late on Thursday night over £1m had been raised for Motor Neurone Disease Association, Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association, My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, MND Scotland, Leeds Hospitals Charity and The Darby Rimmer MND Foundation.
Inspired by his former Leeds Rhinos team-mate Rob Burrow, who died in 2024 after living with MND for four-and-a-half years, Sinfield and his team have raised over £11m for the MND community since the event began in 2020.
The 46-year-old began day five of this year’s challenge at Accu Stadium, home of Huddersfield Giants, where nine-time Paralympic gold medallist Hannah Cockcroft was in attendance to show support.
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Thursday’s Extra Mile – where Sinfield and his team are joined by those impacted by MND – took place at Churchill Playing Fields and he then passed through his home town of Oldham.
Sinfield concluded the day at Salford (Annabel Lee-Ellis/PA) (PA Wire)
The day concluded at the AIG Stadium, home of Sky Bet League Two football club Salford, where he was greeted by crowds in the stand.
The event resumes on Friday with the penultimate day of the course starting in Salford and ending at Brewdog Stadium, home of St Helens. Sinfield will pass by the grounds of Leigh Leopards and Wigan Warriors.
The Big Ten is in full conference mode this week with eight conference matchups on the schedule.
Out west, the load is light with USC hosting Washington.
UCLA and Oregon both enjoy the week off ahead of their ranked matchup in Eugene next week.
The league slate gets underway on Friday evening in Evanston as Northwestern opens their new $850 million home.
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Here is our look at this week’s Big Ten action.
Northwestern Wildcats at Penn State Nittany Lions
Friday, October 1 5:00 PM PT, FOX (Connor Onion, Robert Griffin III, and Alexa Landestoy)
Line:PennState –2.5 Over/Under:45.5
It will be quite a show in Evanston on Friday night as the Wildcats open up new Ryan Field against Penn State.
The crowd should be electric, filled mostly with fans rooting for the home team. This week, I think Northwestern certainly will be “Chicago’s Big Ten Team.”
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All of that has the smell of an upset. Oh, but the Cats played so well last week at Indiana, and the next day Penn State fell victim to an upset at the hands of Wisconsin.
Surely, PSU will not enter this one overlooking the Wildcats? They will not, and it will not matter.
Wildcats QB Aiden Chiles vs Indiana | Robert Goddin/Imagn Images
Northwestern plays good defense; they do not turn the ball over.
And Aidan Chiles is finally playing at the level we were all looking for when he was just a 17-year-old starting for Oregon State. Under the tutelage of Chip Kelly and Jerry Neuheisel, Chiles appears to be thriving.
David Braun has his defense making a ton of plays, and the Cats will not be pushed around at the line of scrimmage on either side of the ball.
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Northwestern opens their new digs in style.
Winner:Northwestern ATS:Northwestern O/U:Under
Michigan Wolverines at Minnesota Golden Gophers
Saturday, October 2 9:00 AM PT, FOX (Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt, and Jenny Taft)
Line:Michigan –5.5 Over/Under:43.5
The Gophers and Wolverines will tangle for the 107th time when they meet in Minneapolis on Saturday. And for the 100th time, the winner will leave with the Little Brown Jug.
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Minnesota is riding some momentum after their win on the road at Washington last week. Michigan, on the other hand, is reeling a bit after their last-second loss at home to Iowa.
Both teams will play solid defense, and this one is not going to wear out the scoreboard lights.
The Gophers seem to have more on offense than Michigan does, and Drake Lindsey gives Minnesota a clear edge at the QB spot, in my opinion. The Gopher QB does not offer a ton of flash, but he wins games.
The second-year QB is 11-6 as a starter, a win percentage of .647 which would is the best ever for a Minnesota QB. He also is smart with the ball and makes plays when needed.
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Lindsey has accounted for 3+ TDs in each of the last two games and should be able to produce enough against Michigan.
Gophers QB Drake Lindsey vs Washington | Kevin Ng/Getty Images
Bryce Underwood is great on the underneath throws for Michigan but has been shaky under pressure this season. Minnesota got to Demond Williams seven times last week.
The blueprint will be the same this week, and it could cause issues for Michigan.
In a game that should be tight, special teams could play a big role and no team in the nation has done a better job of flipping the field than Minnesota.
The Gophers offensive starting field position is third-best in the nation while their opponents starting field position is second nationally.
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The Gophers have only claimed the Jug 23 times; it will be 24 after this week.
Winner:Minnesota ATS:Minnesota O/U:Over
Ohio State Buckeyes at Iowa Hawkeyes
Saturday, October 2 12:30 PM PT, CBS (Brad Nessler, Charles Davis, and Jenny Dell)
Line:Ohio State –14.5 Over/Under:45.5
Ohio State is coming off a game in which they dominated Illinois while Iowa is coming off a win at Michigan.
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Iowa’s defense is as good as it always is, ranking 10th in total defense and 12th against the pass. That passing defense will get tested this week in ways it has not been tested yet.
And most of that will be in the form of Jeremiah Smith. The Buckeyes’ WR has already racked up 33 receptions this season for 617 yards and seven scores.
That yardage total is 32 more than the next closest player this season (Oregon State’s Jesse Legree ranks second with 585). Smith is simply that good and can take over a game on his own. He will be a matchup problem for Iowa.
Plus, it is not like you can key on one thing against this OSU offense; Bo Jackson and Ja’Kobi Jackson both run the ball pretty well too.
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Buckeyes WR Jeremiah Smith vs Illinois | Liam Ahern/The Latern
If Iowa can limit the Bucks’ offensive output, they will have a chance.
But they will need to produce on offense, and while the Hawkeyes look much more competent on offense this season. They still are not going to win in a shootout with OSU.
Iowa will look to move the ball on the ground, and thus far this season the Buckeyes have not been nearly as stout up front against the ground game as in past seasons.
Ohio State wins this one, but the Hawkeyes will be able to move the ball on them.
Winner:Ohio State ATS:Iowa O/U:Over
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Maryland Terrapins at Nebraska Cornhuskers
Saturday, October 2 1:00 PM PT, FS1 (Dan Hellie and Robert Smith)
Line:Nebraska 14.5 Over/Under:52.5
Nebraska is 4-0 and looks like they might finally be ready to turn the corner under Matt Rhule.
For Maryland, it looks like more of the same, and the clock might be ticking on Mike Locksley’s time in College Park.
The Huskers’ offense is clicking behind Anthony Colandrea, as the QB is making plays through the air as well as with his legs. Nebraska should have no trouble moving the ball on Maryland this week.
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Last week UCLA’s offense had a field day against the Terrapins, and I’d expect nothing different this week.
Huskers QB Anthony Colandrea vs Spartans | Adam Ruff/Icon Sportswire
The shocking issue with Maryland last week was on offense.
Maryland was unable to mount anything close to a competent offense in the loss to UCLA, amassing just 181 total yards at 2.62 yards per play while turning it over five times.
Now UMD has to face a Huskers defense coming off a five-sack performance against Michigan State.
The Big Ten losing streak now sits at nine games as the Terps have not won a conference game in over a calendar year. That streak reaches double digits this week as this one gets ugly in a hurry.
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Winner:Nebraska ATS:Nebraska O/U:Over
Washington Huskies at USC Trojans
Saturday, October 2 4:30 PM PT, NBC (Noah Eagle, Todd Blackledge, and Kathryn Tappen)
Line:USC –9.5 Over/Under:58.5
Washington had the schedule set up for them to make a lot of noise this season. This was to be the hurdle before a stretch run of wins prior to the late-season tests in the last two weeks of the season.
Then Minnesota happened.
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USC was rolling through the month of September and set for this to be the year Lincoln Riley, and the Trojans broke through with a playoff run.
Then Oregon happened.
For both the Huskies and Trojans, the setbacks last week were tough, but they do not need to define the season.
For Washington, it is also the first game outside of Seattle this season.
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Demond Williams Jr. has been the Huskies’ offense this season with the running backs banged up.
Williams has developed a connection with Dezmen Roebuck, and the young WR continues to impress with 30 receptions for 308 yards already.
The problem for UW might be that Williams has had to do too much, as he is also their leading rusher. No matter how good your QB is, it is generally not a good sign if he is the team’s leading rusher.
UW is 17th in the Big Ten, running for just 107.3 yards per game and just 3.7 yards per rush.
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Trojans QB Jayden Maiava vs Oregon | Mark J. Terrill/AP
Last week, Minnesota was able to exploit that as they turned up the heat on Williams and got to him seven times.
This was a Gopher team that had four sacks in their first three games, and two of those were against Eastern Illinois and Akron.
If you don’t have to worry about the run game, it is easy to pin your ears back and get after the QB.
USC has had some defensive issues of their own the last three games, allowing 35.3 points per outing against Oregon, Rutgers, and Louisiana.
The Ducks, sure, but Rutgers and Louisiana are not exactly offensive juggernauts.
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So, this one is going to be strength on strength, with a good Washington defense tasked with stopping an explosive USC offense.
Alex McLaughlin and Jacob Manu have been among the best Big Ten defenders this season, but they will have their hands full limiting the Trojans.
USC was forced to get away from the run game a bit against Oregon, and the Ducks took some things away.
If the Trojans can stay balanced and get King Miller and Waymond Jordan going early, it will open things up for Jayden Maiava.
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USC rebounds and gets the win at home
Winner:USC ATS:USC O/U:Over
Indiana Hoosiers at Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Saturday, October 2 5:00 PM PT, BTN (Mark Followill, Rhett Lewis, and Caroline Hendershot)
Line:Indiana –24 Over/Under:55.5
Indiana heads to Piscataway with the nation’s longest win streak. The 20-game win streak is also the third longest by a Big Ten team since 1980.
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Rutgers is looking for its first win over a ranked opponent since 2009 and first over a Top 10 foe since 2007.
On the bright side, the 35 points Rutgers scored against USC were their most vs. a ranked opponent since 2008. On the not-so-bright side, Indiana’s defense is probably significantly better than USC’s.
Indiana had some struggles against Northwestern last week. The offense was far from perfect, and the defense had a difficult time containing Aidan Chiles.
Offensively, they can easily clean things up while the defensive issues might have had more to do with the Wildcats QB than anything else.
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The Hoosiers got plenty of pressure; Chiles just made plays and extended things with his legs.
Hoosiers RB Lee Beebe vs Northwestern | Katie Newett/The Indiana Daily Student
If there is a bright spot for the Knights on offense, it has been the play of WR KJ Duff.
If there has been an issue for the Indiana defense this season, it has been getting beat in the secondary.
If Rutgers can keep the pocket clean, they should be able to hit on a couple of big plays.
The Indiana defense will limit the Knights’ offense, and on the other side of the ball I’d expect the Hoosiers O-line to create a ton of holes for Lee Beebe to run through.
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IU is rushing for 233.5 yards per game, and even a banged-up RB room should be able to shred the RU defense.
The Indiana win streak continues.
Winner:Indiana ATS: Indiana O/U:Under
Straight-Up Staff Picks for Selected Games
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writes about various topics for SuperWest sports, including stats and records, college sports, and motorsports. He also founded and runs the Sports and Entertainment Research Center (SERC).
Out west, the load is light with USC hosting Washington.
Northwestern Wildcats at Penn State Nittany Lions
Michigan Wolverines at Minnesota Golden Gophers
Ohio State Buckeyes at Iowa Hawkeyes
Maryland Terrapins at Nebraska Cornhuskers
Washington Huskies at USC Trojans
Indiana Hoosiers at Rutgers Scarlet Knights
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