How Abu Dhabi Took Over Manchester City | Part One
It Was What It Was : The Football History Podcast
The Overlap
4.9 • 667 Ratings
🗓️ 1 July 2025
⏱️ 47 minutes
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Summary
Welcome back to It Was What It Was, the football history podcast. This week, hosts Jonathan Wilson and Rob Draper explore the complex history behind the Abu Dhabi takeover of Manchester City. The discussion begins with a chilling recount of a 1984 assassination of UAE ambassador Khalifa Ahmad Mubarak, claimed by the Arab Revolutionary Brigades. This incident serves as a critical backdrop for understanding the motivations and geopolitical factors influencing contemporary Middle Eastern involvement in global sports. Jonathan and Rob look into the precarious position of Abu Dhabi, the history of the UAE's formation, and the significant figures like Khaldoon Al Barak and Sheikh Zed, shedding light on why Abu Dhabi has ventured into the world of football ownership and how this has reshaped not just Manchester City but football in general.
Join us on Friday for Part Two.
00:00 Tragic Assassination in Paris
00:54 Introduction to the Podcast
01:03 The Abu Dhabi Takeover of Manchester City
03:21 Comparing Abramovich and Sheik Mansour
04:29 The Shock of the 2008 Takeover
05:09 The Initial Skepticism and Rabino Signing
07:21 The Role of Solomon Al Faim
09:26 The Importance of Kaldoon Al Mubarak
15:41 The Aggressive Approach to Regulation
22:34 Massacre at Saia and Its Impact
24:25 Khaldoon Al Mubarak's Background
27:19 Transformation of Abu Dhabi
32:23 Discovery of Oil and Its Implications
43:19 Formation of the United Arab Emirates
44:50 Challenges from Regional Powers
45:56 Conclusion and Teaser for Part Two
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A gunman pumped two bullets into the head of the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates as he left his home on left bank Paris in the second fatal attack in 24 hours on persons with Middle Eastern connections, police said. |
| 0:19.1 | Ambassador Khalifa Ahmed Abdul Aziz al-Mubarak 37 died from his |
| 0:23.4 | wounds in hospital. The Arab Revolutionary Brigades claimed responsibility of the killing in a call |
| 0:28.4 | to a French news agency. An anonymous Arabic-speaking caller who claimed he was speaking from Bucharest, |
| 0:34.2 | Romania, said Mubarak had been condemned to death because the |
| 0:38.3 | UAE had expelled Palestinian and Arab residents and was linked with American imperialism. |
| 0:46.5 | Mubarak was shot twice through the temple as he left his ground floor residence on a tree-lined |
| 0:50.9 | street in a fashionable neighborhood near the Eiffel Tower. |
| 0:56.9 | Welcome to It Was What It Was, I'm Jonathan Wilson, and with Rob Draper. |
| 1:03.0 | And that was a news report from EPI, the news agency, from the 9th of February 1984. |
| 1:07.2 | And that links in to the Abu Dhabi takeover in Manchester City, |
| 1:09.8 | which is what we're going to be talking about over the next two episodes. |
| 1:12.1 | So, Rob, we've talked a lot, haven't we? |
| 1:18.5 | I mean, over the last 17 years now about state ownership of clubs, about the UAE, about Abu Dhabi, about Qatar, about Saudi Arabia, about sports washing. |
| 1:22.3 | But I sort of have always got the impression that we don't really know the full story. |
| 1:26.8 | We know it's happening, but we don't quite know the details of why. And I think certainly I realize in Qatar, just how shaky I was on my 20th century history of the Middle East. So that's what we're filling in today, isn't it? It's why has the Middle East become the centre of the sports washing? Why have the UAE taken over |
| 1:44.7 | Manchester City? How did that process happen? But fundamentally, who are Abu Dhabi and why is this |
| 1:50.6 | a sensible thing for them to be doing from their point of view? Absolutely. And I think if you |
| 1:54.9 | understand the people and personalities and indeed the history behind it, then I think it becomes |
| 2:00.7 | more comprehensible. I'm conscious that |
| 2:03.5 | I actually think it makes you understand them a little bit more and maybe see them in more |
| 2:10.2 | positive light. But what we're not doing here is trying to sports washer project and say |
... |
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