Burnham had two hospitality dinners with Man City chairman

Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, had two hospitality dinners with Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak in 2017 and 2018.

The PM dined at matches in both years but this was not detailed in a statement by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) about his meetings with the club.

Burnham has been under pressure to clarify his previous discussions with Man City since the club was found guilty of having 'systematically' broken Premier League rules, which it will appeal.

The PM, who was mayor until June, sparked controversy when he said last month he would be 'really concerned' if the club's owners now sold up.

On Monday, the GMCA released a statement about Burnham's meetings with Man City in his role as mayor for almost a decade. The statement did not specify that this referred to external two hospitality dinners he had had with the Manchester City chairman at separate matches.

A previous GMCA register of declarations for Burnham detailed a 'dinner with [then-Manchester City Council leader] Richard Leese and Chair of Man City' for an Everton match at the Etihad stadium in August 2017, valued at £300 for hospitality. This entry has since been deleted from the GMCA website.

Man City was found guilty by an independent commission of breaching Premier League financial regulations in September. The commission found City had broken rules over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018 by creating 'sham' contracts with commercial partners to secretly funnel more than £830m into their football operations.

Earlier this month, Sir Richard Leese - who was head of Manchester City Council for 25 years until 2021 - defended a decade-old deal between the council and Man City owners Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG).

Man City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak (left) chats to Andy Burnham in 2019 at the Etihad Stadium, when he was mayor of Greater Manchester

Burnham had a formal meeting with Al Mubarak in October 2021 at the UK Government's Global Investment Summit, arranged by the Department for International Trade; and that he met the club chairman