Conflicted and misinterpreted. No these aren’t lyrics from a Jay Z song, this is how it feels to be City.
The club have been under unheard-of scrutiny, which the majority of their supporters believe is unjust in comparison to their opponents. Spending sponsorship deals have been the subject of enquiries and sanctions over the years.
With the 115 charges and so called ‘trial of the century’ now at the forefront of the media, how have Manchester City become one of the most followed and most successful clubs in the world since their takeover with the constant controversies surrounding them, due to their ownership and ways they go about their business.
In recent years I believe that the citizens have been unfairly treated and branded wrongly as a club due to what’s been going in the United Arab Emirates. The previous owners were known to be doing dodgy dealings of their own, but due to City not causing any shockwaves within the footballing world nobody really batted an eyelid. The current owners have only come under scrutiny from the media and footballing fans due to their success.
We all know that if it wasn’t for the takeover, then the domino effect of that Aguero moment wouldn’t have happened. I’m sure that if the takeover would’ve been a failure and City stayed in the Red Devils shadow, finishing mid table with maybe an outside chance of Europe then no football fan would bat an eye lid at the potential ethical problems going on in the UAE
Although, they’ve been treated wrongly in the past I can’t believe they have a clean record. In more ways than one the 2023 treble winners are examples of the term soft power.
What is soft power
The term soft power is the ability of a nation to influence others by appeal and persuasion as opposed to force or payment is known as "soft power," a term established by Joseph Nye. Using sports to advance cultural values, build diplomatic ties, and raise national status is known as soft power in the context of sports.
Soft power can be applied both domestically and internationally through sport. The four mechanisms of sport diplomacy and politics—image-building, establishing a space for discussion, trust-building, and reconciliation, integration, and anti-racism—can be used to promote peace and nation-building. These processes can have unforeseen outcomes and are not deterministically controllable. On the one hand, sports can help adversaries develop trust with one another. On the other hand, playing fields can reflect the animosities between peoples.
Manchester CIty
On September 1, 2008, Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan's Abu Dhabi United Group reached an external agreement to acquire City for £200 million.
Just before the new owners took over the Citizens were in limbo, following his wife Pojaman's fraud conviction in August 2008, Thaksin Shinawatra fled to Britain after escaping bail in his home country of Thailand. At the time, it was claimed that Shinawatra's assets worth £1 billion were blocked, causing turbulence in his ownership of Manchester City.
"There was chaos. Everybody was clinging to the wreckage. There wasn't a lot of hope and it was born out of the fact that financially, we were almost out of business.
"We couldn't pay the bills. We couldn't pay the wages. Money was frozen. It was a desperate situation and faced with that, you borrow money from wherever you can. We were borrowing from board members. It was not a plan to run a football club. It was one of survival. Chief executive at the time, Gary Cook told BBC.
"Finding partial investment was not an option. Someone had to take over the club 100%.”
Who is their owner?
Sheikh Mansour is one of the most influential businessmen in the Middle East and the UAE's deputy prime minister.
According to his official biography, his chairmanship of City may be his most well-known position, though it is by no means his most important. In addition to serving as chairman of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, and Emirates Global Aluminium, the 50-year-old Emirati royal is also the chief executive of Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Company, which manages the emirate's $370 billion sovereign wealth fund. He is also a board member of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.
Since the takeover
They had been playing football in the third tier in England ten years prior. From their first statement signing of Robinho from AC Milan for a reported £32.5 million in 2008 all the way to more recently Haaland from Borussia Dortmund for a reported £60 million in 2022, City were able to acquire the world's top football players because of that deal, which made them the richest club in the world.
City had won 12 titles prior to the takeover, with the League Cup serving as their final trophy in 1976.
In the last 16 years since the takeover, they have spent over £1.5 billion and won over 25 trophies thus including a domestic treble -Premier League, League Cup (currently known as the Carabao Cup) and the FA cup, continental treble – Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. Whilst they dominated the cup competitions, they also won the Premier League four times in a row, a feat that hasn’t been done before in 136 years of English football, with only 6 teams winning it 3 times. City's dominance in the last 10 years cannot be matched, though many fans believe that City's success may not have been ethically correct.
How have city used soft power
Throughout the selected match weeks, unique Rainbow Laces pitch flags, ball plinths, handshake boards, and substitution boards are present at every Premier League game. Rainbow laces and captain's armbands are also present.
They promote the campaign with a rainbow Premier League logo on their social media channels and by highlighting Rainbow Laces on LED displays at the stadiums.
The Manchester club are one of the biggest clubs in the world and currently play their football in the Premier League the most known league in the world. In the year 2013 the Premier League introduced the ‘Rainbow Laces Campaign’.
The campaign began in 2013, the same year that the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 was passed on July 17th, 2013, and the first same-sex marriages occurred on Saturday, March 29th, 2014.
A key focus of the partnership encourages LGBT+ acceptance among children and young people involved in community and education initiatives such as Premier League Primary Stars and Premier League Kicks, and within Academies.
Currently in its 11th year Manchester City and the other 19 Premier League clubs show support for the LGBTQ + community usually during the first two rounds of fixtures in December.
SO you may be wondering how does this link to city and soft power?
As previously mentioned earlier Manchester City are owned by Sheikh Mansour and his company that are based in the United Arab Emirates.
At the time of writing this article it is currently illegal to be a part of the LGBTQ + community in the United Arab Emirates. Severe sanctions are imposed on anybody caught having consenting same-sex sexual activity.
In the United Arab Emirates consenting to same-sex sexual relations is punished by imprisonment under federal criminal laws. In this instance, a criminal complaint from one of the participant husbands or male guardians is required before any charges are made. The minimum penalty is six months in jail; there is no set maximum, and the court is free to impose any sentence that complies with the nation's constitution.
For the Premier League teams such as; Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool taking part and showing their support for the campaign will go a long way due to them all being followed by millions of fans around the world.
One of the main reasons opposition fans have a problem with the club is due to the background of the owners and the politics that happen in the country. In today’s game the term ‘keep politics out of football’ is thrown about the game more than ever. I can understand why many football fans believe this but, in my opinion, there are certain issues the game should get involved with. On the other hand, there are also some that they should leave.
How big of an affect do city have on this
With this Manchester City use soft power by supporting a campaign surrounding a campaign that’s promotes inclusion within the sport, thus hiding the potential issues that are currently happening in United Arab Emirates.
I believe that this is a smart idea from both sides. The Premier League having Manchester City as one of their biggest ambassadors for the campaign is crucial for spreading the message.
The Manchester based club have millions of fans all around the world and a combined 139 million followers on their social media channels, including Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter) and TIKTOK at the end of the 2023 season.
The sky blues are once again using soft power by supporting this type of campaign in hope to push the stereotype of what happens with ownership to the side and have the focus on them supporting a campaign where the focus is the complete opposite of the views in the owners’ home country.
Manchester City will not change views in a different country by supporting a campaign straight away but, I do think that they could play a big part in getting some type of change. They have many sponsors from the country and have over 30,000 fans as of 2015, which I’m sure will have grown due to the number of preseason tournaments and other events such as the Club World Cup that was held out in Jeddah in 2023, where coincidentally City took part in the tournament following their Champions League win the previous season, even winning the 7 team tournament.
In an article by Forbes post the 2021 Champions League final between winners Chelsea and Manchester City, Zak Garner-Purkis refers to the change that’s gone on at the Etihad since the takeover and how the views of opposition fans has changed.
“The idea of City as the trophy asset of a wealthy individual is gone, replaced by the theory that the club is PR tool for a nation with a questionable human rights record.”
For me the scrutiny around this is nonsense, as we alluded to earlier opposition fans will pick at anything to bring a big team down even if it has nothing to do with how said club go about their business, this being one of them. In the UK same sex relationships were not allowed until the 1960’s with same sex marriage not becoming legal in the UK until 2013 under ’The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, when it was passed on the 17th July of that year. The United Arab Emirates are just a country in development and have certain beliefs which are 50-60 years behind the UK and the rest of the world may not be on board with.
What have city done off of the pitch
With their charity already set up and constantly giving back to the community, they wanted to grow their brand. Manchester City’s footballing empire began to grow even further in 2013 creating the ‘City Football Group’
City Football Group is the largest private football club owner and operator in the world, owning and operating 13 clubs on five continents. This includes the likes of Girona in the Spanish first division, Troyes in the French second division and New York City in the MLS.
The CFG strategy was created in May 2013 and guarantees that each club plays attractive football, stays true to its supporters and community, and gains access to the greatest knowledge in the world both on and off the pitch via its global structure.
Alongside this the club have been running ‘City In The Community’ the clubs official charity.
Established in 1986. By using football to encourage better lifestyles, we help individuals all around Greater Manchester. In addition to fostering healthy communities and futures, our youth-led programs prioritise emotional and physical wellness.
Manchester City may get a lot of comments thrown at them about how much they spend on players, supposedly going over their FFP limit but the work they’ve done in the community cannot be critiqued or frowned upon.
During the COVID -19 pandemic the club used their facilities and other assets to help in the fight against the disease.
The Club teamed up with the NHS and the Council in March 2020, and as a result, the Campus' facilities provided a variety of activities overseen by Manchester City, including testing facilities.
The Etihad Stadium served as a training ground for around 350 nursing staff members who work throughout Manchester, particularly in community care and children's settings.
The club announced the "Cityzens Giving for Recovery" campaign in June 2020 to help those in need both locally and globally. The City Football Group has raised almost £1 million through crowdfunding for specific initiatives close to each of its 10 clubs worldwide.
Other donations included, a donation of £50,000 to The Trusell Food Bank Group, 500 three course meals to local families and 260 laptops were donated to were donated to local primary school so that they could keep up with their education remotely during the pandemic.
IN the firing line
The rumours of dodgy dealings and unfairly spending, didn’t stop City doing what they do best (no I don’t mean spending another £200 million in the summer transfer window) and that’s winning. Whether that’s Winning hearts and minds off the pitch or winning every possible trophy they can do on it.
Season upon season the criticism that City face only grows and grows, whilst the accusations of what’s going on in their owner’s home country and the ‘trial of the century’ is plastered all over the media, the work the club do off the pitch for the community cannot be matched. Always in the firing line by opposition fans, criticism that wouldn’t be there if they were even half as successful as they have been for the last 10-15 years.
Every opposition fan that’s team aren’t on Manchester City’s level want to take a dig at anything they can get, thus bringing in such as the politics behind the scenes with what may be going on in the ownerships home land. With fans using the politics as an attack on City just shows the jealousy of opposition fans, as I’m sure that if their club were in Manchester City’s situation they wouldn’t care what’s going on in the owners country as it wouldn’t be directly affecting their club.
This is how it feels to be City, this how it feels to be conflicted and misinterpreted.
Add comment
Comments