‘Inconvenient truth’: Man City case spotlights realities of UK-UAE ties

When Liverpool fans greeted Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday with jeers and banners demanding the Abu Dhabi-owned football club be relegated, they took aim at what critics have long dubbed “sportswashing” – the practice of using high-profile sports investments to launder a tarnished international reputation.

Focusing solely on public relations, however, obscures a much deeper network of high-stakes diplomacy and geopolitical economics between London and Abu Dhabi.

The reality behind the...