City Football Group set to part ways with Mumbai City FC?
Who is the City Football Group ?
The City Football Group (CFG) is essentially a global football empire, a company that owns and operates multiple football clubs around the world, all under one corporate umbrella.
It was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Manchester, England. The group is majority-owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan (via the Abu Dhabi United Group), with minority stakes held by the U.S.-based Silver Lake investment firm and Chinese companies like China Media Capital.
What They Do
CFG’s main business is owning football clubs and creating a network that shares resources, scouting, data analytics, coaching expertise, and even branding strategies. The idea is to have a “family” of clubs that can develop players, commercial partnerships, and a consistent footballing philosophy worldwide.
Major Clubs in the CFG Network
Manchester City (England) – their flagship club.
New York City FC (USA)
Melbourne City FC (Australia)
Mumbai City FC (India)
Girona FC (Spain)
Troyes AC (France)
Palermo FC (Italy)
Montevideo City Torque (Uruguay)
Lommel SK (Belgium)
Yokohama F. Marinos (Japan – minority stake)
EC Bahia (Brazil)
They also have stakes in several other clubs across Africa, Asia, and Europe.
Why It’s Unique
CFG’s model is rare in football, they operate like a multinational corporation but for sports, where: Players can move between CFG clubs more easily. Commercial sponsors get global reach across multiple markets. Clubs share scouting networks and training methodology.
Young talents can be developed in one club and promoted to a bigger one in the network (often Manchester City). Think of it as the Disney of football, one big brand with multiple “franchises” across the world.
When did Mumbai City join City Football Group
Mumbai City entered the City Group family in November 2019 as the Group’s eighth member and has since enjoyed great success.
Why is City Football Group parting ways
With the uncertainty of ISL and heavy financial losses incurred, the majority stakeholders of Mumbai, CFG are considering an exit from the #IndianFootball scene, as reported by @Ei_Samay on Twitter.
🚨 | BREAKING: City Football Group set to part ways with Mumbai City FC?!
With the uncertainty of #ISL and heavy financial losses incurred, the majority stakeholders of Mumbai – CFG are considering an exit from the #IndianFootball scene, as reported by @Ei_Samay!
Big blow 🤯 📉 pic.twitter.com/26xmzRCwmL
— Best of Indian Football (@IndianFootyBest) August 6, 2025
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