Kogan pledges independence as City ownership scrutiny looms

Independent Football Regulator chair David Kogan has warned that he would resign if the government attempted to influence its decisions, as Manchester City’s financial misconduct case raises the prospect of regulatory scrutiny of the club’s ownership.Kogan said the regulator would await the outcome of City’s appeal before determining its response, with any action dependent on investigation and legal advice.He said: “Our independence is absolute, and my independence personally is absolute.“I made it very clear last year that any form of political interference in the way we operate is going to result in my resigning from this role, and I stand by that completely.“To be crystal clear, we’ve come under absolutely no political pressure whatsoever on this or any other topic, and I don’t expect to in the future. I think ministers and indeed opposition parties know full well that we’re going to act entirely independently.”City are appealing an independent commission’s findings that they systematically breached Premier League financial rules over nine years, including through commercial arrangements used to conceal owner funding. The club deny wrongdoing.The IFR’s assessment would be separate from the football disciplinary process, examining whether relevant owners, directors and senior executives meet its suitability requirements rather than determining the Premier League’s sporting sanctions.Kogan continued: “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.“That process is reliant on us having 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.”A finding that an owner failed the applicable suitability requirements could lead to a requirement to sell, but no such determination has been made concerning City’s owners.IFR chief executive Richard Monks said an owner required to dispose of their interest would receive a deadline, with failure to comply potentially resulting in a third party being appointed to oversee the sale.Monks commented: “We are not a black and white, tick-box regulator. It allows us to take a broad view of the suitability of a particular owner.”The independence question has attracted attention following Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s expression of concern about losing City’s Abu Dhabi owners and their investment in Manchester.Burnham has subsequently distinguished the football proceedings from wider economic investment, while the Greater Manchester Combined Authority has disclosed two meetings with City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak during his mayoral tenure.Kogan’s comments make clear that those political and commercial relationships would not determine the regulator’s response, while his statement that no pressure has been applied distinguishes concerns about possible intervention from evidence that it has occurred.He also addressed whether the IFR could sustain a prolonged legal challenge from a wealthy owner, saying exceptional funding could be sought from government.Kogan added: “If we’re facing a long-running legal challenge, we will clearly go back to government and get financial support from government. That’s nothing to do with our current budget. That’s going to be an exceptional circumstance.“I don’t expect a problem with the Treasury or with DCMS if we’re suddenly facing a substantive legal challenge, assuming that legal challenge is one that we’re prepared to fight and prepared to win. But as I say, we have yet to face that situation.”The City case could become an early test of the regulator’s independence and enforcement capacity as its licensing process begins in November, although the appeal outcome and subsequent assessment remain necessary before any ownership action is decided.