When Andy Burnham isn’t busy being annoyed by his own leadership manoeuvring against Sir Softie, he can usually be found promoting himself via the favourite medium of all tragic middle-aged lefties: football. This weekend he celebrated the first all-Manchester FA cup final – which will see Manchester United take on Manchester City – while offering a number of other football-related reflections. Last week he personally flew to Rome to deliver a signed Manchester United shirt to the Pope. All in a day’s work for Manchester’s Mayor… 

Burnham remains silent, however, on the number one football issue in his own patch: the impending Qatari takeover of Manchester United. Guido’s football insiders say that the deadline for bids is the end of this week, and that the attempt by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani to buy the club outright could lead to effective Qatari state control of the club before the end of the season – reportedly causing consternation at DCMS. No surprise that a group of the fans Burnham is so keen to champion asked him this month to condemn the Qatari bid due to the country’s extensive human rights abuses:

“We’re all appalled at the idea of our club being used to sportswash a country where homosexuality is criminalised, women need a man’s permission to have a smear test, and migrant workers are treated like dirt… Andy Burnham has recently spoken (in the Guardian) about the need to reckon with Manchester’s historical links to slavery via the cotton trade. Right now in Qatar, migrant workers are subject to horrific exploitation, and thousands died building the World Cup stadiums. It’s no good talking about the past if you don’t take action in the present.”

Much like woke pundit and Starmer cheerleader Gary Neville, despite his high volume of football-focused output, Burnham appears to have so far remained silent on the matter. It’s another case of Qat-ari got your tongue…