Man City, the Sports Minister and the mysterious meeting.
Man City, the Sports Minister and the mysterious meeting.
The Department for Culture, Media & Sport's response to my FOI request for meeting details between Sports minister and Man City hits 2.5m views on social media.
Back in May 2023 the government’s Sports Minister, Stuart Andrew held a meeting with Manchester City Football Club, according to data published by his department the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the “football governance white paper”.
Just three months previously to the meeting, in February 2023, City were charged by the Premier League with 115 alleged breaches of the league's financial rules over nine seasons between 2009-2018.
The meeting intrigued me, so I decided to send a Freedom of Information request to the DCMS. I had asked four simple questions about the May meeting:
1 - Please confirm if you hold a copy of meeting minutes for the meeting
referenced above?
2 -if the answer to question 1 is yes, please provide a copy of the minutes.
3 - please also provide a copy of the attendance list, agenda and any
ministerial briefings provided to the minister for this meeting.
4 - please provide a copy of any emails between the ministers office and
representatives of Man City leading up to the meeting. (Please use a date
range of 01/05/23 to the 23/05/23 for you search for relevant emails).
Last week, I received a response and posted the outcome on Twiter/X.
Government Minister’s have refused to provide me with a copy of the minutes, claiming it’s not in the “public interest”.
Furthermore, Ministers claim releasing them would inhibit the “free & frank” exchange of views
“attendees are concerned that their views and opinions raised in meetings will be released, they may be reluctant to contribute to meetings, or may withhold sensitive but important information”
Officials also confirmed that no agenda was produced for the meeting and have withheld the ministerial briefing document prepared for Stuart Andrew in advance of the meeting with football club. Surprisingly, government officials also revealed that they hold no email correspondence between Man City and the ministers office in the three weeks prior to the meeting.
I have appealed the decision (and will publish the response in full here when it lands). I’ve also asked a number of additional questions:
1 - Where was the meeting held?. please confirm the location.
2 - The department has confirmed no emails are held between the parties in the 3 weeks leading up to the meeting, if this is the case please can you confirm how the meeting was organised? i.e. via text message, WhatsApp message, telephone call, etc.
3 - A government spokesperson confirmed to the press that Man City's Premier League charges were not discussed, please therefore can you provide a summary of what topics were discussed?
We will keep you posted on any response.
In the meantime a full copy of the initial FOI response can be downloaded and read here:
16 March 2024 - Update
The Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has finally replied to my complaint regarding its initial decision to withhold the meeting minutes between Government ministers and Manchester City Football Club.
A response was only provided from government after I warned the DCMS that I intended to issue a formal complaint to the ICO over it’s failure to respond within the correct timeframes.
The response was frustrating, but also revealing.
Ministers are continuing to withhold publication of the meeting minutes on the grounds that it’s not in the public interest for them to be published. Furthermore DCMS claim:
“The discussion and related correspondence involved a free and frank discussion between HMG and Manchester City - the release of such information could inhibit the communication in the future, as the conversation was in confidence.”
“The release of such information would create relationship issues between the Premier League Exec and Manchester City FC as this was a private conversation, outside of the Premier League.”
Interestingly, officials did provide a response to the three additional questions that I put to them back in January 2024 (see questions above).
In response to question 1, the department revealed the meeting was held at the DCMS offices at 100 Parliament Street in London.
However, the response to question 2 and 3 further deepens the mystery. Government confirmed the meeting was “set up by email”, but failed to provide a copy of the email because it was not sent within the “timeframe of the request”. When I asked for a copy of the meeting agenda it responded:
“We do not hold an agenda for the meeting”
I have approached Man City on three occasions, but they have not responded to my questions
So the current situation regarding the meeting between Man City and the Government minister is as follows:
The meeting was set up via email (But government haven’t provided me with a copy yet).
No agenda was set for the meeting (seems strange).
The minutes of the meeting remain hidden from view to avoid creating a “relationship issue” between the Premier League and Man City.
A full copy of the response received from the DCMS on the 15 March 20204 can be read here:
I intend to issue a complaint to the ICO and will publish any response recieved here in due course.