Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has defended the owners of Manchester City, saying he would be “really concerned” if they decided to sell the club following the Premier League’s financial-rule case against the reigning champions.

Burnham praised the City Football Group and its wider ownership for their investment in Manchester since Sheikh Mansour took control of the club in 2008.

Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, Burnham said the ownership’s contribution extended beyond Manchester City, pointing to investments around the Etihad Stadium and in the wider Manchester community.

“I would be really concerned to lose them,” Burnham said. “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.”

His comments followed the conclusion of an independent commission into the 115 charges brought against Manchester City by the Premier League.

The commission found the club guilty of the majority of the charges. Manchester City has denied wrongdoing and is expected to appeal the findings, with the club having until October 2 to submit its appeal.

One of the commission’s findings concerned what it described as “sham contracts” involving commercial partners. The arrangement was linked to more than £830 million in undisclosed funding, according to the findings.

The Premier League said Manchester City had “systematically broken” its rules over a period spanning nearly a decade.

The club could now face a range of sanctions, although no final punishment has been announced. Potential penalties include a substantial fine, a points deduction or expulsion from the Premier League.

Any sanction imposed could itself be challenged through the appeals process.

The Independent Football Regulator has also said the case raises “serious issues” and indicated that it could examine whether Manchester City’s owners should retain their licence to own the club after the disciplinary process is completed.

Burnham, however, said he remained confident that his dealings with Manchester City’s owners during his time as mayor would withstand scrutiny.

He also cited Everton’s experience with the Premier League’s financial regulations as a reason for caution before drawing conclusions about the Manchester City case.

Everton, whom Burnham supports, were initially deducted 10 points in November 2023 after being found to have breached financial regulations. The punishment was subsequently reduced to six points following an appeal.

Burnham said his experience of the Everton case had made him wary of rushing to judgement.

“It’s frustrating when people rush to judgement,” he said, stressing that there was “a lot at stake” for Manchester City supporters, the club and the city itself.

The Manchester City case remains unresolved, with the club’s appeal and a separate process to determine any sanctions still outstanding.

The Nigeria Football Federation has appealed the Confederation of African Football’s decision to annul Edo Queens’ victory over Ghanaian champions Ampem Darkoa Ladies in the WAFU-B final, insisting that the Nigerian club should not be punished for an error by match officials.

The appeal, filed on Tuesday on behalf of Edo Queens, challenges CAF’s ruling that the final should resume from extra time after the match had already been decided by a penalty shoot-out.

Edo Queens were initially declared WAFU-B champions after defeating Ampem Darkoa Ladies 4-1 on penalties following a 2-2 draw at the end of regulation time in the final played on September 5 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

The victory earned the Nigerian champions the zone’s qualification ticket to the CAF Women’s Champions League.

However, Ampem Darkoa protested the outcome, prompting CAF to review the circumstances surrounding the conclusion of the match.

CAF subsequently ruled on Sunday that the game should have proceeded to two periods of extra time before penalties, citing Article 72.4 of the competition regulations.

The NFF, in its appeal, argued that Edo Queens had no role in the decision to proceed directly to penalties and merely followed the referee’s instructions.

The federation maintained that the players participated in the shoot-out in good faith and that there was no finding of misconduct, manipulation or bad faith against the Nigerian champions.

According to the NFF, there is a fundamental difference between benefiting from an official’s error and causing or procuring such an error.

“There is an important distinction between benefiting from an official’s error and causing or procuring the error,” the federation argued.

The NFF said Edo Queens could not reasonably be held responsible for a regulatory breach committed by match officials, particularly when the club neither requested nor influenced the decision to proceed directly to penalties.

“It is therefore difficult to justify a remedy which effectively removes the sporting consequence of the penalty shoot-out from Edo Queens where the club was not responsible for the circumstances which produced it,” the federation added.

The football body also questioned CAF’s authority to annul a completed penalty shoot-out and order the match to resume from extra time when neither participating team was responsible for the irregularity.

It further argued that any remedy imposed by CAF should have a clear basis in the competition regulations and be proportionate to the established breach.

The NFF consequently urged the CAF Appeals Committee to overturn the ruling and restore Edo Queens’ 4-1 penalty-shootout victory.

The federation insisted that the sporting outcome should not be taken away from Edo Queens because the players complied with the instructions of the match officials and participated in the shoot-out without any indication that they were acting improperly.

Jurgen Klopp is still waiting for his first victory as Germany head coach after his side suffered a 1-0 defeat to Greece in the UEFA Nations League on Sunday.

Dimitris Kourbelis scored the decisive goal in Augsburg as Greece secured their first-ever victory over Germany in their 11th meeting.

The result leaves Germany without a win under Klopp after two matches in the 2026/27 UEFA Nations League.

Germany began their campaign with a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands before Sunday’s defeat to Greece.

Meanwhile, Portugal maintained their perfect start to the competition with a 2-1 victory over Norway in Oslo.

Joao Felix gave Portugal the lead in the 17th minute before Norway captain Erling Haaland equalised shortly after half-time.

Portugal, however, regained the advantage when Goncalo Ramos capitalised on a misplaced pass from Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland to restore the visitors’ lead.

Portugal held on to secure all three points despite late pressure from the hosts.

Norway had chances to take control of the game, but Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa twice denied Haaland before half-time.

Rafael Leao also came close to extending Portugal’s advantage but saw his effort strike the crossbar.

The result means Portugal have won both of their opening Nations League matches, while Norway, who defeated Denmark 3-2 in their opening fixture, suffered their first defeat of the campaign.

According to a late Sunday night release on the UEFA Nations League website, the other Matchday 2 results included victories for the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria and the Republic of Ireland.

Netherlands beat Serbia
In Belgrade, the Netherlands defeated Serbia 2-1, with Mexx Meerdink scoring twice.

Meerdink opened the scoring from the penalty spot before Luka Jovic brought Serbia level.
The Netherlands forward then completed his brace with a low finish to give the visitors all three points.

Denmark defeat Wales
Denmark also recorded their first points of the campaign after beating Wales 2-0 at Parken.

Wales defender Ben Davies inadvertently turned Mikkel Damsgaard’s cross into his own net shortly after half-time.

Gustav Isaksen then doubled Denmark’s advantage with an effort that went in via the crossbar.

Austria maintain perfect start
Austria remained perfect at the top of Group B3 after defeating Kosovo 3-1.

Carney Chukwuemeka came off the bench and completed the victory for Austria as they maintained their winning start.

Ireland bounce back
The Republic of Ireland recovered from their opening defeat to Kosovo with an impressive 3-0 victory over Israel.

Troy Parrott, Adam Idah and Jack Moylan all scored in the first half as Ireland secured their first points of the campaign.

League D results
In League D, Gibraltar and Andorra played out a goalless draw, while Lithuania and Azerbaijan shared the points in a 1-1 draw.

Armandas Kucys gave Lithuania an early lead from the penalty spot before Mahir Emreli equalised five minutes later.

Earlier Matchday 1 results
Germany opened their campaign with a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands, while Greece came from behind to defeat Serbia 2-1.

Portugal started with a 1-0 victory over Wales, while Norway defeated Denmark 3-2, with Haaland scoring twice.

Matchday 2 fixtures
The remaining Matchday 2 fixtures are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, with all times listed in Central European Time (CET) and 20:45 kick-offs unless otherwise stated.
Monday, September 28
Georgia vs Ukraine – 18:00
Armenia vs Montenegro – 18:00
Latvia vs Cyprus – 18:00
Belgium vs France

Türkiye vs Italy
Northern Ireland vs Hungary
Romania vs Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sweden vs Poland
Tuesday, September 29
Finland vs Belarus – 18:00
Moldova vs Faroe Islands – 18:00
Czechia vs England

Spain vs Croatia
Scotland vs Switzerland
Slovenia vs North Macedonia
San Marino vs Albania
Slovakia vs Kazakhstan
Bulgaria vs Estonia
Luxembourg vs Iceland

With Klopp still searching for his first win, Germany will be under pressure to improve their results in the next round of Nations League fixtures, while Portugal will look to continue their perfect start.