The U.K. government has made clear it will not stand in the way if Manchester City’s ownership is ultimately forced to sell the club, should the Independent Football Regulator decide that is the correct outcome in the case.

That position sits in contrast to the more cautious tone of Andy Burnham, who has found it difficult to condemn Manchester City. In his former role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, a post he held from 2017 until this past summer, he welcomed the wider impact of Abu Dhabi investment across the city, not only at the club itself.

Even after the guilty verdict, which referred to “sham” contracts used to disguise owner investment and increase spending beyond the rules, Burnham said he would be “really concerned” if Sheikh Mansour were required to sell. “They’ve been such a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester and building Manchester City into the global force that it is.”

The government, however, is taking a firmer line. Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, said investors are welcome but must accept their responsibilities.

“I want to be crystal clear that, whilst we are really grateful to investors who come from all over the world to invest in our clubs and help to ensure their viability and their success, they are custodians, both of their clubs and of the game,” she told talkSPORT.

“They have a responsibility to play by the rules and uphold the rules.”

The case is now moving to appeal, and the government says it will not interfere. Nandy said the focus must remain on protecting integrity and putting supporters first.

“That is the right and proper role governing, it’s to protect that integrity and put the fans back at the heart of football where they belong,” she added. “That’s what we’ve done with the Football Governance Act and the Independent Regulator, and it’s now for football to step up and make a determination in this case, and really meet this moment.”

She added that if the allegations are upheld, the Independent Football Regulator could investigate ownership and, in the most serious scenario, compel the owners to go if they are not fit to run the club.

“We’re not there yet. It’s absolutely right that Manchester City get the right to defend themselves and they do strongly refute the allegations. But in the event that they do not believe that a club is in safe hands, we’ve fought tooth and nail to give the Independent Regulator the power.”

Despite concern that relations between the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates could influence the process, there appears to be little appetite for any intervention. The regulator, led by David Kogan, is said to be confident there will be no interference and will use the full extent of its power if needed.

The head of England’s Independent Football Regulator says the Manchester City case is expected to be resolved before the end of the season, with a decision timetable already in place.

David Kogan, the IFR chief, told Times Radio: “My understanding is there is a prescribed process, which is 12 weeks, and so people are assuming this will actually be heard by the middle or the end of January.”

He added: “It’s not [the IFR’s] process, it’s that of the Premier League’s independent commission. What I don’t think we can do is take any judgment until we’re quite clear.

“Obviously, City claim that they have some form of silver bullet to put off these charges and win the appeal, and we’re not there to judge whether that’s right or wrong yet, but I think we’ll know in the early part of next year.”

If the first appeal fails, City could in theory continue to challenge the original verdict, although any further step would need legal grounds and those grounds would narrow with each stage. Given the club’s repeated denial of wrongdoing, it appears unlikely that a failed appeal leading to sanctions would be accepted without further resistance.

Separate from any punishment handed down by the independent commission, the IFR would also have the power to end Sheikh Mansour’s stewardship of Manchester City if a guilty verdict stands. As Kogan set out in an IFR statement on Sept. 30, that would happen if his ownership was no longer considered “suitable” in the interests of “protecting the sustainability, honesty and integrity” of English soccer, and where there is “clear evidence of wrongdoing by individuals.”

The wider political backdrop has also drawn attention, with the ownership’s relationship with U.K. prime minister Andy Burnham and any possible influence on the process coming under scrutiny. There are concerns about strained relations between the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, given Sheikh Mansour’s role as a senior politician and member of the royal family in the Gulf nation.

Burnham, formerly the Mayor of Greater Manchester, has been cautious in discussing the guilty verdict while remaining complimentary about the economic impact of UAE investment in east Manchester. At the end of September, he said he would be “really concerned to lose them,” and also stated: “They’ve been such a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester and obviously the building of Manchester City into the global force that it is,” and “I do actually thank the City Football Group and the wider ownership for the money that they didn’t just put into the Etihad [Stadium] and the campus around it but also into the city.”

His concern could be seen as a potential source of government pressure, but Kogan and the IFR seem confident it will not become an issue.

Paris Saint-Germain and Luis Enrique were always among the likeliest voices to defend Manchester City at this moment. That should not come as a surprise. Enrique shares a long-standing friendship with Pep Guardiola, a relationship that began when both were on Spain’s Olympic roster on home soil in 1992. They later moved through the senior national team together, then became club colleagues in 1996 after Enrique switched from Real Madrid to Barcelona in the early days of the Bosman ruling.

Their paths continued to overlap in Barcelona, where Enrique coached Barcelona B while Guardiola led the first team, before Enrique eventually took charge of the senior side in 2014. So when he was asked about the Premier League’s guilty verdict hanging over Manchester City ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League meeting, his response was measured and sympathetic.

Guardiola is expected to attend for the first time since stepping down as manager in May, and Enrique made clear that he hopes the process reaches a fair conclusion. “We just have to wait and see what the final decision will be,” he said. “I hope everything works out well for Manchester City because I think what they have done on the pitch has been incredible over the last few years and they certainly deserved to win on the pitch all the trophies they have won. Now we have to wait to see what the authorities decide.”

He expanded on that view when discussing the issue further. “The first thing that you hear, it is a surprise, but we need to respect the process and wait for the final decision,” Enrique admitted. “The authorities are responsible for making these decisions.

“But, speaking only about football, they deserved those trophies. I love their football. Beyond that, we have to wait for the decision. The trophies you win on the pitch remain on the pitch. They deserved to win that and I hope they can avoid the sanction. But we have to wait.”

Manchester City have appealed the guilty verdict reached by an independent panel after a multi-year Premier League investigation into the 2009 to 2018 period. Further appeals could follow if the club are still found guilty when the initial appeal verdict is due in late January.

For now, City must continue as normal while the disciplinary process runs its course, still uncertain over what comes next or how any sanction might eventually be applied.