Manchester City secure ‘seismic victory’ over Premier League and Associated Party Transaction Rules | OneFootball

Manchester City have secured a major victory in their pursuit against the Premier League and their Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules, it has been confirmed.

It was reported earlier this year that officials and legal representatives standing for Manchester City were due to face the Premier League in a legal battle over the organisation’s commercial rules.

Rules regarding Associated Party Transactions or APTs were understood to have been aimed at clubs signing sponsorship deals with companies linked to their owners, and were tightened following a vote by Premier League clubs in February 2024.

At the time, the Premier League said the move would “enhance the efficiency and accuracy of the system”.

The Times said reported in June 2024 that it had seen a 165-page legal document in which Manchester City claimed they are victims of “discrimination”, and that the amended rules were approved by rivals to “stifle” their success on the pitch, calling it “a tyranny of the majority”.

Now, in a significant moment for the Premier League and particularly for Manchester City, a ruling on the battle between the two sides has been released with findings issued to all other 19 clubs within the Premier League.

According to the information of MailSport’s Mike Keegan, Manchester City have scored a ‘seismic victory’ in their war with the Premier League after new rules on sponsorship deals were branded ‘unlawful’.

It is revealed that a panel of retired judges has ruled that regulations aimed at preventing clubs from inflating deals with companies linked to their owners breach the Competition Act – and that the top flight was wrong to stop two recent Manchester City deals.

A 175-page report was delivered to clubs on Monday afternoon detailing the findings, whilst Manchester City are now expected to seek costs and damages, and the Premier League are expected to have to amend or dump the system entirely.

The panel has specifically ruled that the Premier League was wrong to reject a wide-ranging new sponsorship deal City had lined up with Etihad Airways late last year, whilst the stopping of another deal with an Abu Dhabi-based bank was also branded procedurally unfair.

A full statement from Manchester City has since been released which reads, “Following today’s publication of the Rule X Arbitral Tribunal Award, Manchester City Football Club thanks the distinguished members of the Arbitral Tribunal for their work and considerations and welcomes their findings:

–          The Club has succeeded with its claim: the Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules have been found to be unlawful and the Premier League’s decisions on two specific MCFC sponsorship transactions have been set aside

–          The Tribunal found that both the original APT rules and the current, (amended) APT Rules violate UK competition law and violate the requirements of procedural fairness.

–          The Premier League was found to have abused its dominant position.

–          The Tribunal has determined both that the rules are structurally unfair and that the Premier League was specifically unfair in how it applied those rules to the Club in practice.

–          The rules were found to be discriminatory in how they operate, because they deliberately excluded shareholder loans.

–          As well as these general findings on legality, the Tribunal has set aside specific decisions of the Premier League to restate the fair market value of two transactions entered into by the Club.

–          The tribunal held that the Premier League had reached the decisions in a procedurally unfair manner.

–          The Tribunal also ruled that there was an unreasonable delay in the Premier League’s fair market value assessment of two of the Club’s sponsorship transactions, and so the Premier League breached its own rules.

Click here to download page 164 of the judgment, which summarises the Tribunal’s decision.”

Similarly, a statement from the Premier League has since been released, which appears to indicate that they have viewed some elements of the award document as a victory for themselves against Manchester City.

“As the tribunal has concluded, the APT Rules must now integrate the assessment of shareholder loans and remove some of the amendments made to APT Rules earlier this year,” the Premier League said in their statement issued on Monday afternoon.

“Otherwise, the Premier League rulebook has been found to comply with competition and public law standards and is an effective and necessary system for assessing the fair market value of APTs to ensure the integrity of the league’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules.

“We are conducting a process that can allow the league and clubs to enact those specific changes quickly and effectively.”

Additional reporting as per the findings in documentation issued to clubs on Monday has also revealed that the Premier League’s stance was backed by Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, West Ham, Brentford, Bournemouth, Fulham, and Wolverhampton Wanderers.