Earlier today, The New York Times ran a lengthy article on Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the majority owner of City Football Group, which in turn is the majority owner of New York City FC. Headlined "The Sheikh Who Conquered Soccer and Coddles Warlords," the unflattering portrait was written by Declan Walsh, chief Africa correspondent for The New York Times, and Tariq Panja, global sports correspondent at The New York Times.
NYCFC appears at the very beginning of the article, albeit indirectly. Sheikh Mansour, it says in the second paragraph, "is perhaps best known as the owner of Manchester City, the highly successful English soccer team. Last year, his team in New York won approval to build a $780 million soccer stadium in Queens, the first in the city."
There's a lot to process in the sprawling 4,500-word article about the 54-year-old Sheikh Mansour. Here are seven takeaways for the soccer-minded readers of Hudson River Blue.
1. Sheikh Mansour: Discrete, powerful, and unbelievably rich
The youngest of the three al-Nahyans brothers who rule Abu Dhabi, one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mansour tries to keep a low profile. Officially, he's the deputy prime minister and vice president of the UAE, but he has "a chameleon-like ability to disappear into the background, overshadowed by his more prominent or powerful siblings," according to the article.
Sheikh Mansour has created a vital role for himself, "bolstering the nation’s soft power through soccer while also fostering ties with armed leaders" around the world. The article quotes former United States diplomat Andrew P. Miller as saying “He’s the fixer, the handler, the one sent to places without much glamour or publicity, but which are important to the Emiratis.”
The al-Nahyans are the world’s second-richest family, after the Waltons of the US, according to a Bloomberg post cited by The New York Times article.
2. Manchester City could be in trouble
As many followers of international soccer know, charges have been brought against Manchester City for manipulating finances and misrepresenting the disclosures it files with the league. "The proceedings have been described as the “trial of the century” by British sports media," the article reports. "The Premier League is arguably Britain’s largest cultural export, making the dispute with Sheikh Mansour’s team hugely costly and potentially damaging."
If found guilty, Manchester City "could be fined, expelled or stripped of its many titles."
3. Sheikh Mansour doesn't attend matches
Despite Sheikh Mansour’s ownership of one of the most exciting and impressive soccer teams ever to play the sport, he rarely, if ever, goes to games. According to the article, he has attended just two matches "since buying Manchester City 17 years ago," and "only once at the Etihad Stadium."
4. Funds and arms wars
The most damning passages in the article detail how Sheikh Mansour supplies arms, money, and other support for wars in Sudan, Ethiopia, Libya, and Yemen.
"The worsening war in Sudan, a sprawling conflict that has caused over 150,000 deaths and displaced over 12 million people, has led to accusations that the Emirates is bankrolling a genocide, the article reports. "Charities controlled by Sheikh Mansour set up a hospital, saying they were treating civilians. But that humanitarian effort was also a cover for the secret Emirati effort to smuggle drones and other powerful weapons" into the country, according to the article.
Publicly, the UAE denies taking part in the war. "But the United States has intercepted regular phone calls between General Hamdan [of Sudan] and the leaders of the Emirates, including Sheikh Mansour," according to the article.
"The alliance caused some friction with Washington," it continues. "Emirati weapons poured into Libya, in breach of an international arms embargo. Even some American weapons that had been sold to the Emirates showed up in Libya, a senior official said. In 2020, the Pentagon said the Emirates had most likely paid for mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group to fight alongside Mr. Hifter as he attacked the Libyan capital."
5. Influence in Africa growing
While Europe and the US continue to reduce their presence in Africa, the UAE is expanding its investment in the continent. "The Emirates was on its way to surpassing even China as the biggest foreign deal maker in Africa," the article reports. "Companies led by the al-Nahyan family have poured billions into African mines, data centers and carbon credits as the Gulf country seeks to wean its economy off oil."
6. Friend to Donald Trump
While the UAE's clandestine arms deals draw critics in Washington DC from both sides of the aisle, the al-Nahyans have successfully wooed President Donald Trump.
During a visit to Abu Dhabi in May, Trump was shown a presentation of Etihad Park, the Queens stadium NYCFC is set to open in 2027. In a clip broadcast on Fox News, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the chairman of City Football Group, told President Trump that it will built "right next to Citi Field," which "leads the president down memory lane" as Andrew Leigh put it in his article for HRB.
"That’s where they used to fix the cars. A lot of other things got fixed there. A lot of things...That's a great site," said President Trump of the Willets Point stadium location.
According to The New York Times article, "Trump reveled in the extravagant reception as he signed a $200 billion artificial intelligence deal with the country, adding to earlier Emirati pledges to invest $1.4 trillion in the United States."
Sheikh Mansour made a more direct investment in Trump. "Seated next to them was Sheikh Mansour, whose Mubadala wealth fund had said it would use a Trump family crypto venture to make a $2 billion transaction that stands to generate hundreds of millions of dollars for the president’s family," the article reports.
According to the article, Trump was gushing in his praise of Sheikh Mansour. “'You are a magnificent man, and it’s an honor to be with you,' Mr. Trump said to Sheikh Mohammed."
7. “You're going to need a bigger boat”
Of all the luxuries enjoyed by Sheikh Mansour, he seems to take the largest interest in megayachts, according to the article.
"By many accounts, he has owned several of the world’s biggest superyachts," the article reports. "His latest, according to yachting industry reports, is the $600 million Blue. Some argue that it is named after the Manchester City colors and, at 525 feet, the vessel is far longer than any field the team has ever played on."
Blue is now the flagship of a personal leisure fleet that includes A+, formerly known as Topaz, now a 482-foot superyacht that cost $688 million according to the article, and was launched in 2012.
In 2014, when it was still known as Topaz, "the actor Leonardo DiCaprio used the yacht during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil," the article reports.
It always comes back to soccer.
Andrew Leigh
