Football regulator chair David Kogan vows to resign over any political pressure on Manchester City

The chair of English football's independent regulator has said he will resign rather than accept political interference over how the body handles Manchester City, after the club was found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules over a nine-year period.

David Kogan, chair of the Independent Football Regulator (IFR), insisted his "independence is absolute" as he moved to rebuff concerns that the proximity of City's Abu Dhabi ownership to the emirate's rulers could trigger a political intervention by the UK government — and an immediate test of the new regulator's powers.

Kogan: 'I would resign'

Speaking on Tuesday at the launch of the long-awaited State of the Game report, Kogan left no doubt about his position. "Our independence is absolute and my independence personally is absolute," he said. "I [have] made it very clear … any form of political interference on the way we operate is going to result in my resigning from this role, and I stand by that completely. And, just to be crystal clear, we've come under absolutely no political pressure whatsoever on this or any other topic."

Pressed by BBC Sport on what he would do if he did come under political pressure over the case, Kogan replied simply: "I would resign."

Kogan, a former sports media rights executive who was appointed to the regulator role a year ago, stressed that the IFR's course is dictated by statute rather than politics. "As far as we, as the regulator, are concerned, we have a very, very clear course of action that is governed by statute and we are going to follow that course of action and no comment by any politician or indeed any individual is going to affect what we do," he said. "Process is going to drive what we do. Process will lead us to a conclusion. We cannot reach any conclusion at this stage because we don't know the outcome of any appeal and once we do then we will act accordingly."

The political flashpoint that forced Kogan to speak

The regulator's comments followed an intervention by the prime minister, Andy Burnham, who the BBC reports was last month criticised for saying he would be "really concerned" if Manchester City's Abu Dhabi owners decided to sell up. Burnham's previous role as mayor of Greater Manchester has led to questions about his relationship with City's Abu Dhabi ownership, and some Premier League clubs were so "astonished" by his stance that sources told BBC Sport they were "concerned" about political interference in the appeal process.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch demanded that all details of meetings between the prime minister and senior figures at the club be released; the government published those details on Monday.

Kogan declined to criticise Burnham directly. "The Prime Minister is entirely entitled to make his own observations on anything," he said. "We are independent. That is in the name. I am the chairman of the Independent Football Regulator and independence absolutely runs through everything we're doing. And no politician has tried to influence and would try to influence anything we do on that."

What City were found guilty of

An independent commission found City had broken rules over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018 by creating "sham" contracts with commercial partners to secretly funnel more than £830m into their football operations. City insist they are innocent and have appealed.

An independent commission held a 42-day hearing in 2024 that led to the verdict announced last month, with City found guilty of all charges except one relating to non-cooperation with the Premier League investigation. The commission's report said that "a number of important club witnesses gave false evidence in key respects and that some knowingly gave untrue and dishonest evidence."

What happens next

The independent panel will hold a sanctions hearing — which could take months to convene — to decide the punishment. City can appeal both the guilty verdicts and any sanction, leaving the club and the league in a state of uncertainty. The possible punishment ranges from a huge fine, a points deduction or ejection from the Premier League, to being stripped of the eight trophies they won in the affected period.

Asked how crucial it is that the matter be resolved as soon as possible, Kogan said: "I think it's very important." He added that the case was "raising very serious issues if Manchester City on appeal is found to be guilty of the allegations within those findings."

"We are waiting like everybody else to see what the independent panel will do… and then we will bring in a view in terms of our own investigation and statutory powers if we need to do so," he said. "Our powers relate to individual owners, directors and senior executives. They refer to whether people are in a position to run a club in a way that is safe, coherent and done with probity, and we will be examining those things."

Kogan could remove City's Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) as owners should the damning verdict of the independent commission be upheld at the end of the ongoing appeal process. "We have powers within the legislation that allow us to review not only owners and directors and senior executives, but also whether those owners are fit and proper people to run clubs going forward," he said, describing a process reliant on "very detailed knowledge and information, which requires a certain amount of investigation. Then we would take judgments based on the legal advice that we then receive."

Should a club owner ultimately be found to have failed a "fitness" test related to "integrity, honesty and financial soundness", the regulator could force the club to be sold. "We deal with issues of this type much more frequently than you might realise because we are constantly looking at clubs," Kogan said, stating that if any decision by the regulator became the subject of legal action then clubs would be asked to foot the bill through a funding levy.