Manchester City have had some of their complaints against the Premier League APT’s rules upheld by the court, MySportDab reports.
The Premier League giants have been in a long-running legal battle with the Premier League over a recently adopted Associated Party Transaction (APT) Rules.
What is the Associated Party Transaction Rules?
The Premier League had on February 2024, backed by some clubs in the elite division, made a rule to regulate the amount and value of sponsorship deals that is coming from companies and organizations with close ties to Premier League clubs.
The essence of the regulation was to ensure that these companies adhere to principles of fairness when financing football clubs with links to them.
Manchester City is owned by City Football Group, who are backed by government-controlled banks in Saudi Arabia.
For the Premier League, the amount of money pumped into these Football Clubs owned by government-backed financial corporations should be regulated to ensure fair competition and long-term financial sustainability in the football ecosystem.
These regulations were refined and collected in the APT rules in February and was voted by Premier League clubs. The majority of the 20 football clubs voted for the rule while others voted against it. Others abstained from voting.
Manchester City challenged the provisions of the APT rule in court, describing it as limiting and breaking EU competition law.
Now, according to The BBC, the tribunal have ruled that loans from club’s shareholders should be regulated by the APT rules but some provisions of the rules, as challenged by Man City, have been deemed as unlawful.
The Premier League have been directed to make the needed changes to the affected provisions.
Both the Premier League have claimed victory after the ruling with the Premier League insisting that the court ruling did not undermine the overall objective of the APT rule.
On the other hand, Manchester City have harped on some sections of the APT provisions which the tribunal ruled against as satisfying.
They claim the tribunal found the APT system as unlawful and breaking EU competition law. Meanwhile, it has been established that the APT rule and the tribunal ruling is in no way related to the Premier League’s 115 charges on Manchester City for financial breaches.
Judgement on the delivered will be delivered on the last week of December 2024 or first week of January 2025 with the trial still ongoing.
