On Tuesday evening, Man City launched ‘unprecedented legal action’ against the Premier League’ in a dispute that is shaking up top-flight English football.
City are still awaiting an outcome for 115 charges for allegedly breaching financial rules – that are strongly denied by the club – with a hearing now set for November.
However while they await the hearing, which is expected to last six weeks, the Premier League champions have reportedly taken legal action against the division.
According to The Times, City are looking to end the league’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules, which they claim are unlawful.
Under APT, introduced following the Saudi-led takeover of Newcastle in 2021, clubs are stopped from inflating sponsorship deals with firms who are linked to their owners. Instead, all deals have to be independently deemed as of ‘fair market value’ (FMV).
Manchester City have launched ‘unprecedented legal action’ against the Premier League’
City look to end the Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules, which they claim are unlawful
However, inside a 165-page legal document, City claim that the rules have been approved by rivals to stifle their success on the pitch as a ‘tyranny of the majority’.
The club have accused rivals of ‘discrimination against Gulf ownership’ – after the rules were implemented shortly after Newcastle United’s Saudi takeover.
The new case launched by City is not directly related to the 115 financial charges which they are facing however certainly could have an impact.
If the league’s APT laws are found to be unlawful, City’s defence in the parent case will be significantly strengthened.
However, if City lose their challenge over APT regulations, their relationship with the Premier League will be at an all-time low and could see them seek to rejoin the European Super League.
Italian giants Juventus recently became the latest team to pull out of the ESL, leaving just Barcelona and Real Madrid committed, as it stands.
On the other hand, if City are successful, it is likely to signal an end to the Premier League’s democratic system of requiring the agreement of at least 14 clubs, or two thirds of those who vote, in order to implement rule changes.
City’s legal argument contends that that gives the majority unacceptable levels of control.
Man City manager Pep Guardiola (second from left) with club owners Sheikh Mansour (right)
Managing director of the Premier League, Richard Masters has been central to the case
City are still awaiting an outcome for the 115 charges, which include a failure to provide accurate financial information between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, a failure to provide accurate details of player and manager payments during the same period, and alleged breaches of Premier League and UEFA financial rules.
A total of 35 relate to a failure to co-operate with Premier League investigations into the matter between December 2018 and February 2023.
Sponsorship deals linked with their owner’s companies have become central to the accusations filed against the Manchester giants.
However, City now claim ‘there is no rational or logical connection between a club’s financial non-sustainability and its receipt of revenues from entities linked to ownerships’.