This week, the next Premier League civil war stage will occur in central London. The legal case of Manchester City against the tournament will have its verdict soon. Manchester City will also argue that the Premier League does not comply with UK law.
This concerns associated party transactions (APTs), which require clubs to ensure dealings with influential companies are at fair market value. According to pay per head reviews and news sites, the city claims this violates antitrust laws. It’s the dry part.
There will be no public announcement of the verdict or explanation of its reasoning because the hearing will be secret. Thanks to the Times’ reporting, we now know the contents of City’s legal submission, which seem astonishing. Suing the Premier League board under the nebulous Rule x.5.4 almost seems like a sly ploy to undermine the competition’s current framework.
Legal Case of Manchester City
Man City reportedly sues for damages caused by impacted or lost transactions and disputes the APT rules. The league’s teams would have to foot the bill for such damages. Man City claims the regulations were intended to protect the financial interests of the City’s competitors. Also, it will hinder owners from Gulf states and multi-club ownership groups, relevant to Manchester City.
According to City, if the regulations are not amended, the freshly crowned champions might have to cut expenditures on community programs and the women’s squad. They say that the Premier League is interested in limiting APTs since they are a competition for sponsorship money.
Last but not least, they claim the Premier League’s voting mechanism guarantees any competitive constraint. The city sees this as giving in to the majority’s power because no rule can be amended without 14 of the 20 teams’ consent. The claim is 165 pages long.
New Rules on APTs
After the Premier League imposed stricter regulations regarding APTs in February (the City’s discontent with the rules before this change), they submitted this legal submission. It has nothing to do with the 115 accusations against City for suspected financial misconduct, which the club vehemently rejects. The political calculus is much different. When the top league in the world can’t resolve its long-running disagreement with the team that won six of the last seven seasons, what does that indicate for the league?
While the regulations are still in effect, the fact that they are being challenged directly casts doubt on their validity and raises questions about the league’s capacity to oversee its tournament. So, City’s challenge is only rubbing salt into an old wound. There was a lot of criticism and pressure on the regulations last season, whether they dealt with VAR or PSR. The Premier League believes football can regulate itself and has resisted calls for an independent regulator. This disagreement has become increasingly irritating over time.
The APT regulations have recently been under scrutiny following Newcastle’s acquisition by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, and some Premier League detractors have criticized them as an example of poor governance and a solution that was rushed into place to address an immediate issue.
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