David Kogan could be key in deciding the fate of Manchester City’s Emirati owners. But did you know that the Independent Football Regulator chair has funded several Labour MPs, including the current Secretary for Sport?
Last year, Labour’s Secretary for Sport Lisa Nandy chose Kogan as her preferred candidate for Independent Football Regulator chair. But in 2020, he had made two donations to Nandy’s Labour leadership campaign. Both donations were undeclared.
All political donations above £1500 must be declared on an MP’s register of interests, even if split into smaller payments, but Kogan had made one personal payment to Lisa Nandy of £1450, and another from his company, David Kogan Ltd. Nandy was later found to have “unknowingly” broken the rules.
In response to the Nandy scandal, Kogan vowed to quit his new role as Independent Football Regulator chair if politicians attempted to interfere in cases.
Last month, after Manchester City FC were found guilty of 114 counts of financial impropriety, Andy Burnham said he would be “really concerned to lose” their Emirati owners.
Nandy’s 2020 leadership campaign was also funded by Howard Bernstein, the former chief executive of Manchester City Council. Bernstein was the council’s named contact in a “sweetheart deal” with Manchester City FC’s Emirati owners. After leaving the council, Bernstein became a strategic adviser at the club’s parent company.
Bernstein, who passed away in 2024, was also a vice-chair of the Jewish Leadership Council. Victor Blank, another JLC vice-chair, has previously funded three groups linked to the Israeli military. Between 2021-23, he also donated £175,000 to Labour’s ex-Chancellor Rachel Reeves for “staffing costs”.
Another JLC vice-chair was Jonathan Kestenbaum, the ex-Israeli soldier who funded Starmer’s Labour leadership bid. In his “IDF diary”, Kestenbaum described “chasing a nine-year-old boy who broke a 30-day curfew to try to retrieve bread from a gutter”. He’s now a Labour peer.
Trevor Chinn, another major donor to Keir Starmer’s 2020 leadership campaign, was also on the JLC board. So was Louise Ellman, a current director of Labour Friends of Israel. And Monroe Palmer, now Honorary President of Liberal Democrats Friends of Israel.
Secretary for Sport Lisa Nandy was previously chair of Labour Friends of Palestine. But in March 2023, she received a £7000 donation from ex-Labour Together director Trevor Chinn. In 2013, Chinn said: “I’ve spent my entire life working for Israel.”
Lisa Nandy was appointed to the Labour Together board on the SAME DAY as Trevor Chinn. She previously accepted £40,000 from Stuart Roden, another major Labour Party donor. Roden gave £80,000 to Bridget Phillipson, Burnham’s new pick for party chair.
Shortly after Labour’s 2024 election victory, megadonor Stuart Roden held two private meetings with then Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely. Roden has also previously funded Labour MP Luke Akehurst, described by ex-IDF officer Shai Masot as “one of the best on the inside…of the party”.
After the link between Lisa Nandy and David Kogan was revealed, the decision was handed over to Labour MP Stephanie Peacock. Peacock has previously accepted donations from Google and the Betting & Gaming Council. She was also a member of the Football Governance Bill Committee.
David Kogan has openly admitted that he is a “long-term Labour Party supporter”. Keir Starmer later described his own involvement in Kogan’s appointment as an “unfortunate error”.
Labour MP Joe Powell is another who received financial support from David Kogan. Powell has also been funded by David Sainsbury, a key donor to Andy Burnham’s “leadership campaign”. Powell has described Labour’s recognition of Palestine as “essential to the long-term security of Israel.”
Kogan has also funded Labour MP Matthew Patrick. In March 2024, Patrick was taken on an all-expenses paid trip by the Labour Friends of Israel pressure group. He has also been financed by serial lobbyist Jonathan Mendelsohn.
Labour MP and former Hope not Hate director Anna Turley accepted a £5000 donation from Kogan. Turley has previously worked in the office of ex-Labour Friends of Israel vice-chair Conor McGinn. In January, McGinn was charged with sexually assaulting a woman on a night out.
In August 2024, and then Parliamentary Secretary for the Treasury Emma Reynolds registered a £7625 donation from David Kogan Ltd. Shortly after taking office, Andy Burnham promoted Reynolds to Treasury Chief Secretary.
Independent Football Regulator chair David Kogan previously served as a senior executive at the Wasserman Media Group. Founder Casey Wasserman has funnelled millions of dollars to the IDF. In December, war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu thanked him for his “great support” for the Israeli state.
From 1998-2015, Kogan served as chief media rights adviser to the Premier League. An Irish Times article once described him as “a key architect of [the league’s] global financial success.”
Now, with Andy Burnham’s political legacy at stake, all eyes are fixed on the Manchester City decision.