5th June 2024
English league champions, Manchester City, have launched a legal action against the Premier League.
According to The Times, via Daily Mail, City will look to end the league’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules, which according to them are unlawful.
In February it was reported that City sent a threat of legal action against the league’s APT rules and it has been confirmed the club went ahead with it – with a date for the hearing now fixed for June 10.
Introduced in December 2021, the rules are designed to maintain competitiveness by preventing top-flight clubs from inflating commercial deals with companies linked to their owners.
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 accused league rivals of discrimination against Gulf ownership after the rules were implemented immediately after Newcastle United’s Saudi takeover.
If the Manchester club is successful in their hearing, it could allow the league’s richest clubs to value sponsorship deals without independent assessment
Meanwhile, 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.
Also, a failure to provide accurate details of player and manager payments during the same period, and alleged breaches of Premier League as well as UEFA financial rules.
The breach which City face the most charges from claims that from every season from 2009-10 to 2017-18, the club failed to follow the rules that state that member clubs must provide accurate financial information to the league
This allows the FFP a ‘true and fair’ view of a club’s revenue which includes sponsorship deals and their operating cost, which involve player salaries.
Another charge which City face accuses the club of not being truthful in the reporting of the compensation they handed out to leaving managers over the course of multiple seasons.
Also, they face accusations of reducing the cost of player and coach salaries by introducing a third party who pays a portion of the wages.
Under Pep Guardiola, City became the first club to win the Premier League title in four straight seasons.
