Man City (possibly) behind Premier League legal threat as multi-club ownership rules tightened

F365-One-Badge-Savio-Moreira-Savinho

Premier League clubs agreed to tighten rules regarding Associated Party Transactions at a shareholders’ meeting on Friday, though reports suggest one club – possibly (probably) Manchester City – have threatened legal action.

The new measures, aimed at clubs doing sponsorship deals with companies that have ownership links, were voted for at Friday’s Premier League shareholders’ meeting in central London.

A Premier League statement read: “Following a full review of the existing Associated Party Transactions Rules and Fair Market Value assessment protocols, clubs agreed to a series of amendments to further enhance the efficiency and accuracy of the system.”

But reports claim the vote was not unanimous, and Manchester City – known to have previously expressed their opposition to the rule changes – are thought to be the club now threatening to seek arbitration over the proposals.

Premier League clubs voted against more stringent rules at a shareholders’ meeting in November, but a similar motion has now been passed, and it comes as no surprise that City aren’t happy about it.

The APT rules are designed to ensure a level playing field among English football’s elite teams by preventing clubs from signing commercial deals at inflated prices, or escaping cost controls on player dealing, thereby enabling them to spend even greater sums on players.

Manchester City – who are facing 115 charges of breaching Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules – have told the Premier League that the APT changes were unlawful in English competition law, according to Sky News, though the Premier League is confident they don’t have a leg to stand on.

The report claims ‘the issue of related-party deals has become increasingly important to many clubs because they believe the competitive balance of the Premier League is being distorted by state ownership at rivals including Manchester City and Newcastle United’.

City’s stadium is named after Etihad, Abu Dhabi’s flagship airline, while Newcastle are majority-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and have their shirts sponsored by Sela, a Saudi sports rights enterprise.

The report also highlights that questions have been raised by clubs about the value of Chelsea’s one-year shirt sponsorship deal with Infinite Athlete, given the club failed to qualify for Europe this season.

Teams with close partnerships with other clubs internationally, such as Chelsea, Newcastle and City, have most to lose from a redrafting.

And the news comes just days after City were told they would have to provide evidence of fair market value before signing winger Savio, given he is already a City Football Group employee.

It is not yet clear how much City will pay affiliated club Troyes for Savio, who signed him in 2022 before loaning him to Girona, another member of the City Football Group, but it feels all wrong.