We have to be very careful when it comes to contextualising the rulers of States purely in terms of their football dealings. Why has Mansour put millions into building up the football power of Manchester City? Was it a whim? Was he a long term fan of the club? No, it was neither of these things. To understand the core reason for his actions, look to the man he installed as the Chairman of the Club - Khaldoon al-Mubarak.
Mubarak works for Sheikh Mohammed and, as a member of the Abu Dhabi Government he was chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority, a strategic government body responsible for advising on Abu Dhabi's international image. He was deputed from his duties for Sheikh Mohammed to run City shortly after Mansour bought the club, to shape a more dignified direction after the initial frenzy of media coverage which was all about money and considered detrimental by the Abu Dhabi establishment. So, therein lies the essence of the project: sportswashing the image of Abu Dhabi, it's royal family and the wider UAE. Right now Manchester City has unquestionably become the most prominent global projection of Abu Dhabi itself, sponsored by four state-owned companies: the airline Etihad, the telecommunications company Etisalat, the investment company Aabar and the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority. The TV coverage this brings with it includes the rolling adverts respendently displayed around the perimeter of the stands imploring the viewers around the world to "Visit Abu Dhabi, Travellers Welcome."
When discussing the ethics of football club owners it is not just their business ethics that warrant our attention. As a member of the Abu Dhabi ruling family Mansour also has to be judged on the way that the House of Nahyan exercises its power over its citizens. Abu Dhabi is not a free and democratic State. Its critics are routinely imprisoned without access to a fair trial, imprisoned critics of the State are also tortured; immigrant workers are expelled for going on strike to highlight the appalling pay and conditions they work in and protests are closed down.
Yes, wealth was widely distributed among the Abu Dhabi citizens by the late Sheikh Zayed. He was widely revered as a visionary, planning Abu Dhabi's super-fast development after the oil riches transformed the country from the 1960s, while retaining traditional Sunni Muslim values. This is the other side of the coin that has also seen City's owners redevelop the area around the Etihad. They understand - unlike other clubs' corporate owners - that the lifeblood of a football club, (in Europe and South America at least), is its community of supporters. Nevertheless, in this meeting, of a desperate UK economy with Abu Dhabi's fortunes, there is a limit to the UK government's disapproval over allegations of torture and flaws in the UAE legal system.
My point here is to emphasise the need for care in debating the virtues or otherwise of Man City's owners. It is not simply a matter of turning a blind eye because, "well, are these owners are the same, aren't they?"....because, they're not.