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Manchester City’s legal case against the Premier League has reached a verdict, with the tribunal partially upholding some of City’s complaints regarding the league’s rules on commercial deals with clubs’ owners. The tribunal’s 175-page document stated that shareholder loans should not be excluded from the scope of associated party transaction (APT) rules and that some of the February amendments by the Premier League should not be retained.
APTs are aimed at the value of sponsorship deals with companies linked to clubs’ owners. The rules were implemented to restrict inflated deal values that could give clubs more to spend under current financial regulations. APTs were introduced shortly after a Saudi-led takeover of Newcastle in December 2021, and the undervaluation of commercial deals would distort competition in favor of the subsidized club.
Witnesses for City in this arbitration process included Chelsea, Newcastle, and Everton. Witnesses for the Premier League included Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Brighton, and West Ham. Brentford, Bournemouth, Fulham, and Wolves wrote letters supporting the rules.
City’s legal case is not directly related to the Premier League disciplinary commission, which will hear 115 charges against the club for allegedly breaching its financial regulations dating back to 2009. After the verdict, the Premier League announced that it would integrate the tribunal’s assessment of shareholder loans and remove some of the February amendments.
Following the verdict, the Premier League declared that the APT rules were necessary, as prices above fair market value would distort competition, and rejected City’s argument that the rules were designed to exclude clubs with ownership from the Gulf region. City’s statement, meanwhile, focused on the two areas where they won and claimed that the Premier League “abused its dominant position” and that “the APT rules were found to be unlawful.
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