Banner calling for the UAE to free a human rights activist flown over the Etihad before Abu Dhabi-backed Man City's top-table clash

Amnesty International organised for a plane to be flown over the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon ahead of kick-off in the Premier League tie between Manchester City and Liverpool to draw attention to the plight of a human rights activist currently imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates. 

A banner reading 'UAE - Free Ahmed Mansoor' trailed behind a low-flying aircraft as players walked out onto the pitch at the ground named for an Emirati airline in a bid to send a message to the club's Abu Dhabi ownership. 

Mansoor - an Emirates-born blogger and activist - has been in solitary confinement for close to seven years after he was arrested in 2017 for using social media to 'threaten public order' and handed a 10-year prison sentence. 

Human Rights Watch has previously raised concerns over allegations of Mansoor undergoing torture whilst imprisoned, as has been claimed in the activist's private letters. 

In October, Amnesty issued a rallying cry to call for Mansoor's freedom - as well as other 'dissidents' currently imprisoned under similar legislation - ahead of COP28. 

In January 2023, the UAE was ranked 127th of 165 countries in the Cato Institute's annual Human Freedom Index, which assesses human freedom of citizens across aspects of freedom of speech, assembly, and the legal system among other metrics. 

Since their 2008 takeover, Man City have been owned by the Abu Dhabi Group, and investment portfolio for the capital's royal family, and headed by Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's vice-president and deputy prime minister, as well as a minister of the Gulf state's Presidential Court.

During Saturday's clash, the home crowd repeatedly sang the name 'Sheikh Mansour' in honour of the man they see as largely responsible for ushering in Man City's current era of glittering success.  

The Etihad is far from the first English ground to be targeted by those seeking to raise awareness for victims of alleged human rights abuses, with St James' Park the stage for a protest aimed at Newcastle's Saudi-backed ownership during last season. 

A banner which read 'Free All Saudi Prisoners' flew over the Tyneside ground during last term's Premier League clash with Arsenal, organised by the SANAD organisation – short for Standing Against Nefarious and Arbitrary Detentions.

The body says it is a human rights organisation, which is officially registered in the UK, and seeks to 'defend political and civil rights in Saudi Arabia'.

The SANAD Organisation says it 'monitors human rights violations and exposes them to human rights bodies and media, civil and political institutions around the world.'

Alongside the banner at the Etihad, Amnesty published a post on X (formerly Twitter) with an associated call to arms. 

The post read: Ahmed Mansoor is a loving husband, father to four sons, poet & activist. He has been imprisoned for calling for human rights reform in the UAE and he has been held in solitary confinement ever since. 

'Call on the UAE Embassy in the UK to Free Ahmed.'

In a statement shared with Mail Sport by the organisation, Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK's Chief Executive, said: 'The UAE has been sportswashing its global reputation through Manchester City while at the same time jailing Ahmed Mansoor and others simply for their peaceful human rights activism.

'Man City's amazing success under Pep Guardiola owes a great deal to Emirati funding, and we're calling on City fans to join us in this campaign to free Ahmed.

'Today's plane stunt is a way of saying: 'look up from the pitch and see the bigger picture - a huge injustice has occurred, and the owners of Man City are the ones who can right this wrong'.

The statement added that they had left notes amongst items in the club shop in a bid to further spread the message. 

'The least we Mancunians can do for Ahmed is to shout his name loud and clear so Sheikh Mansour can hear,' it continued.  'As well as today's banner and plane protest, three of our group recently visited the Man City store in the city centre and spent half an hour browsing through merchandise and slipping notes into clothing pockets, drink bottles and the turn-ups on bobble hats.

'We hope our 'gifts' are found by many fans over the coming weeks and that they take a few minutes to read the notes and find out more about the human rights situation in the UAE - information their team's owners would rather they didn't know.'