Kogan draws line in the sand over Man City owner powers

Manchester City’s legal and regulatory saga has taken another sharp turn, with Independent Football Regulator chair David Kogan making it clear the body would have the authority to force an owner out if a club is judged to be run improperly.

That is a hefty statement, and it will send a few shivers through the corridors of football power. City are still in the middle of their appeal after being found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules, with an independent commission ruling that between 2009 and 2018 the club used what it described as sham contracts and agreements to flatter revenues and suppress costs.

In plain English, this is not a minor bookkeeping row — it is a case that goes to the heart of how a club is financed, governed and trusted. If the verdict stands, the punishment debate is likely to be fierce, and one of the most explosive suggestions has been that Abu Dhabi United Group could be asked to step aside.

Kogan, speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, was cautious about jumping ahead of the process, but he did not shirk the central question. Asked whether the regulator could compel an owner to sell, he said the IFR would have “absolute power” to do so if it believed a club was being operated in a way that was not fit, fair or proper.

That is the sort of language that changes the temperature of a debate instantly. In football, owners tend to think they can dig in, hire lawyers and ride out the storm. Kogan’s message is that the regulator would not merely advise — it could act.

He also left the door open to the IFR launching its own investigation into City, though he was adamant that no judgement should be forced before all the facts are properly aired. Quite right too. You do not want regulators tossing out verdicts based on noise, headlines or public fury.

There is, of course, a political layer to all this, and that is where things get rather sensitive. Andy Burnham has spoken against the idea of City’s owners being removed, saying he would be worried to lose them given their role in the club and the wider development of modern Manchester. That stance has attracted plenty of criticism, particularly with diplomatic considerations involving the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates hovering in the background.

For his part, Kogan has already said he would resign if political interference was ever applied to the regulator’s work. That is the sort of hard line supporters of good governance will welcome. If the IFR is to mean anything, it has to be seen to be independent — no strings, no backroom nudges, no politicians steering the wheel.

The bottom line is simple: the Manchester City case is no longer just about points, fines or paperwork. It is about whether football’s regulators are finally willing to wield real power. And if Kogan is to be believed, that power extends all the way to the biggest sanction of all.

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