In the shadow of their looming 115 charges for financial breaches of the Premier League’s rules, Manchester City have launched a legal case against the Premier League’s commercial rules.
There had been reports as early as February that the Premier League may face legal action for a tightening of the rules on associated party transactions (APT). An arbitration hearing has been set for 10-21 June and it appears that the action is centred on whether this rule change was fair or compatible with the Premier League.
APT is a mechanism that allows club owners to sponsor their teams through their other businesses. This allows the club more revenue to spend, making it easier to comply with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), which have plagued the league this year with Nottingham Forest and Everton being punished with points deductions for not complying.
The Times, external reported that as part of the 165-page legal document, Manchester City claim to be victims of “discrimination”. They argue that the rules were approved by rivals to “stifle” their success, and call it “a tyranny of the majority”. The club have won four consecutive premier leagues making English football history in doing so, and they look far from fading away currently.
Whilst Manchester City may have a case in terms of their rivals attempting to stifle their success, it’s hard to look at this without cynicism. The club is alleged to have broken the Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules of the premier league with an alleged 115 breaches. Some will look at this as a pointed effort to imply that it was the rules that were a problem and not the breaches themselves. Especially as some of the charges faced are related to sponsorships paid to Man City by Abu Dhabi.
With these charges looming over the club, and now a case against the Premier League, it means the club is looking at a summer bogged down in a quagmire of legal cases that may, unfortunately, overshadow their record-breaking performance on the pitch.
Lawyer Monthly will be reporting on this case further, as more updates come.