Manchester City send fresh letter to Premier League clubs and the FA over ‘unlawful’ sponsorship rules | OneFootball

A senior official within Manchester City has sent a further letter to Premier League clubs, as well as the FA, over the top-flight’s associated party transaction (APT) rules.

The latest proposals to amend APT rules comes after a verdict from an independent panel was made public back in October, as both Manchester City and the Premier League claimed victory in their legal battle.

From the side of Manchester City, it was confirmed that the Premier League champions had some of their complaints upheld, with two aspects of the APT rules deemed unlawful by the tribunal.

The tribunal confirmed in the process that low-interest shareholder loans should not be excluded from the rules, and that changes made in February 2024 to toughen regulations also breached competition law.

In light of the ruling, Manchester City also claimed in a statement that the rules were “void”, and criticised the top-flight’s “misleading” suggestion that such rules could be swiftly amended, threatening further legal action if there was a “knee-jerk reaction”.

And now, ahead of a showdown vote that some reports have already indicated are on a knife-edge this Friday, Manchester City have issued a further letter of correspondence to clubs regarding the vote.

As relayed by MailSport’s Mike Keegan, City have written to all 19 Premier League clubs – and the FA – warning that the top-flight’s proposed changes to sponsorship rules remain ‘unlawful’ and hold prospect of further legal action should they be approved on Friday.

Manchester City’s General Counsel Simon Cliff says the club are ‘strongly in favour of robust, effective and lawful regulation of related party transactions’, but adds that an independent panel found several of the rules to be unlawful meaning that the system is void and that the previous, less stringent related party transaction rules (RPTs) is now back in force.

Following up, Cliff says, ‘common sense dictates that the PL should not rush into passing amendments – particularly ones which entail material legal risk – until the PL knows the outcome from the Tribunal’.

Furthermore, Cliff makes clear that Manchester City’s ‘strong desire is to avoid any future costly legal disputes…and so it is critical that the PL gets it right this time round’.

Manchester City’s letter, as explained by MailSport, highlights three issues including that the club considers the proposed amendments as ‘unlawful’ as they would introduce a retrospective exemption for shareholder loans from December 2021 until the new rules come into effect.

Cliff goes on to state that the proposal does not strike the right balance as it allows certain clubs to benefit from shareholder loans, and also claims addressing that issue is unfair as clubs who took them did not know the exemption was unlawful.

Cliff also stresses in his final point that the Premier League is rushing its consultation and that it is ‘essential’ to have the tribunal’s verdict before any next steps.

As relayed by MailSport, he said, “One very possible outcome is that the tribunal will declare that all of the APT Rules are void and always have been. How can the clubs meaningfully discuss amendments to rules without knowing if those very rules even exist?”

Manchester City’s letter also coincides with a public show of support from Premier League rivals Aston Villa, with the club’s owner also confirming in an interview with The Telegraph that they would be voting against the proposals surrounding APT rules this Friday.

City will likely be hopeful that a number of other clubs will join them in their stance against the new proposals, with the likes of Newcastle United and Chelsea known to be in agreement in private.

Pep Guardiola is yet to publicly comment on the subject of APT rules, but returns to media duties this Friday afternoon in the build-up to Manchester City’s meeting with Tottenham in the Premier League.