Andy Burnham promoted Manchester City during two official trade missions to Japan while the club was facing more than 100 charges of breaching Premier League rules, The Telegraph can reveal.

The Prime Minister, then Greater Manchester mayor, was photographed holding up a City shirt alongside Hideyuki Yokoyama, the mayor of Osaka, in December 2023, 10 months after the charges were brought.

It comes amid growing scrutiny of Mr Burnham’s links to City’s owners in the United Arab Emirates, which invested billions in Manchester during Mr Burnham’s mayoralty, helping deliver the “Manchester miracle” of economic growth that propelled him to Downing Street.

The football shirt was presented to Mr Yokoyama by City Football Group, the club’s parent company, to mark a new trade partnership between Greater Manchester and Osaka.

Danny Wilson, City’s managing director of operations, joined Mr Burnham’s delegation and promoted the club to Japanese business leaders at a seminar opened by the mayor.

On a return visit to Osaka in June 2025, Mr Burnham attended a City promotional event at the World Expo, where he was photographed kicking a football as club coaches led skills sessions and its mascot “Moonchester” posed for pictures.

That evening, Mr Burnham hosted an invitation-only diplomatic reception which ended with a raffle for a Manchester City shirt.

The event also featured an artistic performance commissioned by Mr Burnham as a “love letter” to Osaka, involving “boundary-pushing artists”, including a “queer-led fashion brand”, according to a running order from that night.

The disclosures were made after an independent commission found City guilty last month of serious breaches of Premier League financial rules, including using “sham contracts” to disguise secret funding of more than £830m.

The club deny wrongdoing and have appealed against the ruling.

The Prime Minister’s relationship with City’s Abu Dhabi owners is under growing scrutiny after he intervened following the announcement to say he would be “really concerned” if they sold the club, praising them as “a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester”.

Downing Street was subsequently forced to clarify his position, insisting that no team was above the rules.

Yokoyama visited Manchester 

In September 2025, Mr Burnham wore a tie in City’s colours as he welcomed Mr Yokoyama, Osaka’s mayor, to Manchester to formalise the partnership between the two cities.

During his speech, he took a swipe at Manchester United, who had recently suffered a humiliating League Cup defeat to fourth-tier Grimsby Town.

Addressing Hiroshi Suzuki, Japan’s ambassador to Britain, who has achieved a significant following online for his enthusiastic embrace of British culture, Mr Burnham joked that the diplomat should use his “extraordinary influence” to restore the image of “almost-forgotten Manchester brands, such as Manchester United”.

In his speech, Mr Yokoyama noted that Mr Burnham was “wearing a tie in Manchester City’s colours, so I have come wearing a tie in Manchester United’s colours”.

Under pressure to disclose Mr Burnham’s dealings with the club, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) published an account of his meetings with City executives which said he had had just one formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the chairman.

However, a deleted published register, uncovered by The Sun, revealed that Mr Burnham had enjoyed two hospitality dinners with the chairman at the Etihad Stadium in 2017 and 2018, valued at more than £1,000.

On Thursday, Mr Burnham promised “full transparency”, saying: “I’ve asked them to do a more manual trawl of everything, as I want everything possible to be out there. There’s no question about that – full transparency.”

Hours later, it emerged that he had attended a two-hour lunch with senior City representatives in Shenzhen, China, in September 2018.

Documents released under freedom of information laws show that the lunch, held at One Shenzhen Bay, formed part of a four-day trade mission during which City Football Group opened an office in the Chinese city.

The £4,796 cost of flights, hotels and other expenses was covered by the Manchester China Forum, an organisation established to strengthen trade links.

Trade missions routinely involve politicians promoting British businesses overseas. At the time of both visits, no findings had been made against City, who continue to deny wrongdoing.

The Telegraph disclosed on Thursday that Mr Burnham had pledged to fight City’s corner in its battle with the Premier League to ensure the club received “fair” treatment.

In 2024, he told the Manchester Evening News: “Absolutely I will support Manchester City in securing fair and consistent treatment, and transparent treatment. I think that’s the issue that the Premier League need to reassure everybody on, that it’s going to be done in a fair way, in a consistent way.”

The Telegraph also reported last week that Mr Burnham oversaw a £55m taxpayer loan to UAE-owned businesses while he was mayor of Greater Manchester.

The money was awarded to three Jersey-based property companies ultimately controlled by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan, the owner of City, and was used on property developments in Manchester. There is no suggestion the arrangement broke any rules.

Downing Street declined to comment on the propriety of Mr Burnham promoting City while the club was under investigation, referring The Telegraph to GMCA.

However, the authority is understood to be unable to comment, given the inquiry relates to the Prime Minister’s judgment.