Man City Win Legal Challenge Against Premier League Over Commercial Deals

Manchester City have claimed a partial victory in a legal fight with the Premier League over commercial rules governing clubs, including two large sponsorship deals the club was blocked from completing.

An independent panel found the Premier League’s rules regarding commercial deals between clubs and related parties break competition law in two specific ways.

City made the legal challenge against 25 of the regulations in the Premier League’s rulebook regarding Associated Party Transactions (APTs), as well as its decision to reject the two sponsorship deals.

Manchester City have claimed a partial victory in a legal fight with the Premier League over commercial rules governing clubs, including two large sponsorship deals the club was blocked from completing.

An independent panel found the Premier League’s rules regarding commercial deals between clubs and related parties break competition law in two specific ways.

City made the legal challenge against 25 of the regulations in the Premier League’s rulebook regarding Associated Party Transactions (APTs), as well as its decision to reject the two sponsorship deals.

The panel found partly in Manchester City’s favour, agreeing that shareholder loans – where shareholders or ‘associated parties’ lend to or borrow money from the clubs they own – should not be excluded from those rules.

City stated those loans total some £1.5bn across the division, including all of Arsenal and most of Brighton’s borrowing.

The panel also agreed with City’s claim an updated version of the APT rules, which came into force in February this year, were unlawful because of wording changes, which tightened the interpretation of what constitutes ‘fair market value’ in commercial agreements, was unlawful.

The two sponsorship deals, with First Abu Dhabi Bank and another with Etihad Aviation Group, were blocked unfairly, the panel found, as the Premier League did not give City all of the information used for its decisions in time for them to respond.

They also found the Premier League, which itself admitted was understaffed at the time, took several months too long to reach its decision in both cases.

City’s other claims against the Premier League were dismissed.

The Premier League has said it welcomes the tribunal’s findings, “which endorsed the overall objectives, framework and decision-making of the APT system … (but did) identify a small number of discrete elements of the rules which do not, in their current form, comply with competition and public law requirements”.

“These elements can quickly and effectively be remedied by the League and clubs,” the Premier League added.

City thanked the panel and said the findings found the Premier League to have “abused its dominant position” with its approach and rules.