‘Inconvenient truth’: Man City case spotlights realities of UK-UAE ties

South China Morning Post12 October 2026, 12:20 UTCUnited Kingdom

When Liverpool fans greeted Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday with jeers and banners demanding the Abu Dhabi-owned football club be relegated, they took aim at what critics have long dubbed “sportswashing” – the practice of using high-profile sports investments to launder a tarnished international reputation. Focusing solely on public relations, however, obscures a much deeper network of high-stakes diplomacy and geopolitical economics between London and Abu Dhabi. The reality behind the...

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