Sports

Yankees, Manchester City’s NYCFC partnership raises questions

The partnership of the Yankees and Manchester City joins two of the world’s richest teams, buying an MLS expansion team called New York City. There’s no doubt the Bombers know the city and Manchester City knows the game; but the marriage leaves a host of questions unanswered, both athletic and ethical.

Will Manchester City and the big-spending Bombers be able to build a winner in the salary-cap MLS? With Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s notoriously poor human rights record, will the league be judged by the company it keeps? And where will this team play if community backlash – much of it against Sheikh Mansour – kills their proposed stadium in Queens?

“Before we get involved with any partner, we make sure they understand we have zero tolerance (for bigotry). We’re confident,’’ Yankees president Randy Levine said of Sheikh Mansour, a member of the Abu Dhabi Royal family and the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates.

Part of the backlash is against the team building on 13 acres of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, and part is due to the UAE’s policy of outlawing gay activity and reportedly making arbitrary arrests.

It’s no coincidence that MLS – whose current TV contracts with ESPN, NBC Sports and Univision all expire following next season – will see New York City FC begin play the year after in 2015. Now that Manchester City and the Yankees have forked over a $100 million franchise fee, the league which has always been about slow, steady growth has handed over the responsibility of finding a home.

“Wherever it’s built, we’ll go through the process. We understand it, we know how to do it, how to deal with the community, how to deal with elected officials,’’ said Levine. “And we also know to deal with the doom-and-gloomers and the people that don’t tell truths. We’re very effective in dealing with them also.’’

Levine, MLS commissioner Don Garber and Yankee managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner all told the Post they hadn’t spoken to Sheikh Mansour. But now Levine, Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano and New York City FC boss Claudio Reyna must either close the deal in Flushing Meadow or find someplace else.

“I think the best place for it for everybody is in the eastern end of Flushing Meadow Park. It’s a part of the park that’s been neglected for a long time….(and) it would improve dramatically the rest of that park,’’ said Mayor Michael Bloomberg, adding “Nobody should think they’ve got a lock on this; there are lots of different places you could build a stadium of 25,000.’’

Mayor Bloomberg confirmed the plan would require use of the Mets’ parking, and Garber said New York City FC plans to spend $50 million to improve the park should they get the go-ahead. If they can’t, where would they turn then? Clearly the Yankees are experienced in building in the Bronx, and Garber shared a funny anecdote that might mean the West Side Highway could be back in play.

“Ferran is staying in a hotel that overlooks Pier 40 and he got up this morning to work out. He’s putting on his gym clothes and looked down and saw those soccer fields and he said “Man, that would be an amazing sight for a soccer stadium!” So we can ad him to the list that thinks it’d be pretty cool,’’ Garber said of the site MLS used for its 2011 all-star game workouts, and has long coveted.

“That’s a difficult site. It’s difficult to get big projects done in New York. But when people meet the team, meet the representatives of Manchester City, when they see Claudio, we’ll have the support we need to get a stadium done. We recognize it’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be hard. But they’re all hard.’’

Reyna, the former US National Team captain, is as recognizable a figure in the local soccer scene and as natural a first hire as New York City FC could have. He led St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark to a national title, and played for Manchester City before coming home to captain the Red Bulls, who’ll now be NYCFC’s rival.

He’ll be involved in helping smooth over the waters in finding a new home. When asked about a temporary one in the interim, Reyna said the team naturally could play at Yankee Stadium but might even play at the home of the rival Mets.

“It’s been stated that we will be looking for a field, a stadium and more importantly a home,” said Reyna, echoing a theme Soriano repeatedly struck about a sense of communal harmony. “That’s very important for us as a club in New York City. To start off as many teams have done, we need to find a home, and that possibly could be either Yankee Stadium or Citi Field.

“We still haven’t figured that out…There have been discussions with a few, both the Yankees and the Mets, and I think there is nothing concrete yet but we will find a home in time,” he continued. “We do have a little bit of time but I know these discussions will be ongoing and it’s important that we find something that makes sense for us and we feel welcome. That’s the most important thing.”