Dubai Watch co-founder David Haigh has reported Manchester City Football Club Limited, its Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, and its directors and owners to Greater Manchester Police. The police have given him reference number 2483-300926. He revealed the report on LBC with Iain Dale on the evening of 30 September 2026, the day after the Premier League published the independent Commission’s decision.
The report names three possible offences under the law of England and Wales: false accounting, contrary to section 17 of the Theft Act 1968; knowingly or recklessly making misleading statements to auditors, contrary to section 501 of the Companies Act 2006; and fraud by false representation, contrary to section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006. He has also reported the matter to Report Fraud, the national fraud reporting service run by the City of London Police, made a formal complaint to the Financial Reporting Council about the club’s auditors, BDO LLP, and written to the Serious Fraud Office, the Registrar of Companies, BDO and Manchester City Council.
What the Commission found
The Commission found that for nine seasons the club recorded sham sponsorship contracts as revenue, with the shortfall quietly paid by Abu Dhabi United Group, the owner’s own company. It found a sham image rights deal, also funded from Abu Dhabi, more than £900 million of revenue inflated and costs concealed, accounts misstated to auditors and to football’s regulators, and “concerted efforts to stop and frustrate” the investigation. Those accounts were approved by the club’s directors and filed at Companies House, on the public register, year after year.
Why this matters to Dubai Watch
Dubai Watch exists because the UAE and its rulers have too often treated the law as optional, at home and in Britain. A British High Court judge found that the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed, orchestrated the abduction of his daughter, Princess Shamsa, from the streets of Cambridge, and that Pegasus spyware was used to hack the phones of Princess Haya and her British lawyers. Sheikh Mohammed denies the allegations. Amnesty International confirmed that David Haigh’s own phone was hacked with Pegasus in 2020, while he was working on the case of Princess Latifa. And in August, ITV News reported that a mercenary on the UAE’s payroll ran a covert operation in London against the British activist and academic Anas Altikriti.
The abuse has not stopped. Zeynab Javadli’s three little girls were taken from her at gunpoint in Dubai in June and have still not been returned to her. Read her case.
The Prime Minister
The day after the verdict, Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the BBC that he would be “really concerned to lose” City’s owners, and thanked them for the money they have put into Manchester.
How to report it yourself
It takes twenty minutes. Be accurate, be polite, and stick to what the Commission found. Do not exaggerate and do not speculate.
Greater Manchester Police. The club and its Chairman are in Manchester, so this is the force that should investigate. Go to gmp.police.uk, choose “Report a crime”, then “Report something else”. Name Manchester City Football Club Limited (company number 00040946, Etihad Stadium, Manchester M11 3FF) and Mr Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak (City Football HQ, Ashton New Road, Manchester M11 4TQ). Say you are a football supporter who paid to follow Premier League football between 2009 and 2018, and refer to the Commission’s decision published by the Premier League on 29 September 2026. You may quote David Haigh’s reference number, 2483-300926, so that your report is linked to his.
Report Fraud. The national fraud reporting service at reportfraud.police.uk. If you paid for tickets, merchandise or subscriptions in those seasons, you can report as someone personally affected. Refer to the same decision and the same names.
The Serious Fraud Office. Use the secure reporting form at sfo.gov.uk under “Contact us” and choose “provide information about a case of serious fraud, bribery or corruption”. The SFO does not take reports by email.
Companies House. Email enquiries@companieshouse.gov.uk. Ask the Registrar to query the accounts filed by company 00040946 for the years 2009/10 to 2017/18 under its powers in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, and to refer the conduct of the directors who approved them to the Insolvency Service.
The Financial Reporting Council. The FRC regulates the audits of large companies. Its complaints page and online form are at frc.org.uk. Name BDO LLP as the auditor of Manchester City Football Club Limited and ask the FRC to take up the audits for those years in the public interest.
Manchester City Council. The Council owns the stadium and is the club’s partner in east Manchester. Email whistleblowing@manchester.gov.uk and ask the Council to record your concern and refer it to its Audit Committee.
Watch: the full LBC interview with Iain Dale.
Notes to editors
Dubai Watch, founded in 2025, monitors human rights, detention and the rule of law in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the wider United Arab Emirates. David Haigh is its co-founder, a human rights lawyer and the former Managing Director of Leeds United.
On 29 September 2026 the Premier League published the independent Commission’s Core Decision finding Manchester City in breach of all charges relating to its financial rules between 2009/10 and 2017/18, and of three of four charges of failing to co-operate. Sanction will be determined at a separate, private hearing. The club may appeal until Friday 2 October 2026. Source: premierleague.com.
Whether any offence has been committed is a matter for the investigating authorities and the courts.
David Haigh’s full statement, with notes to editors and sources: I have reported Manchester City and its chairman to the police. Every fan can do the same. His LBC interview with Iain Dale: LBC on X. Dubai Watch’s earlier statement: Could it be football, not the UN, that finally puts the UAE’s dictators and despots in their place?