The leader of a North London council has been accused of ‘very poor judgement’ after accepting thousands of pounds worth of Wembley Stadium tickets over the past four years.
Opposition councillors have raised concerns about a ‘potential conflict of interest’ with some of the tickets gifted by The FA due to licensing and planning applications submitted by the owners of the national stadium being approved over that time.
Since 2021, Brent Council Leader, Cllr Muhammed Butt, has accepted just shy of £6,000 worth of tickets to attend major sporting and music events at Wembley Stadium, the bulk of which were gifted by The FA. These include England international games, FA Cup Finals, a Harry Styles gig, and a heavyweight boxing match. The council state the role of a councillor is ‘to be an ambassador and advocate for the borough’.
In 2024 alone, Cllr Butt has accepted £3,310 worth of tickets from just The FA – ranging between four and six tickets for each event. The council leader was gifted six tickets to the Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois heavyweight boxing match – valued at £125 each – Eight England men’s football tickets totalling £640, as well as for the FA Cup Final and Community Shield. He also accepted an additional £500 ticket for the Champions League Final, which was gifted by UEFA.
Deputy Leader of the Brent Liberal Democrats, Cllr Paul Lorber, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “This is frankly very poor judgement by Cllr Butt. He should know better after so long in the job.”
He added: “Cllr Butt should have had the common sense to see a potential conflict of interest and that accepting an excessive number of tickets, sometimes up to five per event, would annoy local people, most of whom have never had the chance to attend an event at the stadium which is on their doorstep.”
Concerns over an alleged conflict of interest are down to Brent Council being the authority which ultimately decides on whether planning or licensing applications are approved. Wembley Stadium still has a pending application for a licence to hold a ‘fan zone’ in the square outside the OVO Arena on match days, however, earlier this year it was granted permission to increase the number of major events held at the stadium – much to the annoyance of many local residents.
The ‘event cap’ was increased by eight – from 46 to 54 – in September of this year but had been steadily increasing over the years since the new stadium was built, with residents of Wembley Park claiming they were not aware the number of events could be increased before signing a lease. Following the approval, the LDRS spoke to nearby residents who described feeling like they are a ‘secondary consideration’ in the decision-making process.
Cllr Lorber said: “Local residents are very surprised that the leader of the council thought it was a good idea to accept tickets from Wembley Stadium, worth upwards of £2000, whilst they were lobbying Brent to allow extra event days at the stadium.”
A Wembley Stadium Spokesperson told the LDRS: “We host key stakeholders at all of our events at Wembley Stadium including community groups, charities, commercial associates and organisations we work with on a collaborative basis to deliver events.”
They added: “Whilst a small number of tickets go to local council members through this stakeholder engagement, we also have a wider CSR programme, which last season provided over 20,000 complimentary tickets to local residents, community groups and charity partners.”
As well as from the FA and Wembley Stadium, Cllr Butt has also accepted gifts from other organisations, including tickets from the GLA to three England international games in 2021 worth £900 and two tickets worth £100 to attend a KSI match at Wembley Arena from Misfit Boxing.
In 2018 and 2019, the council leader also received five NFL tickets totalling £1,910, which were gifted by the Jacksonville Jaguars. A Brent Council spokesperson said: “Brent is privileged to play host to nationally and internationally renowned venues like Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena.”
They added: “An integral part of being a councillor is to be an ambassador and advocate for the borough. The opportunities to influence key-decision makers across public life are few and far between, however where the chance does arise at particular events, it is important that councillors fulfil their role as champions for Brent.
“All councillors record any gifts or hospitality they receive and that register is published and made available to the public for maximum transparency.”
The Liberal Democrats are now calling on the council to establish a ‘fair system’ that ensures any tickets offered are distributed to local people. Cllr Lorber said: “[They] should have the chance to experience sporting and other events at the stadium. After all, it is local people who have to put up with the issues caused by large scale events at Wembley Stadium.”
