Manchester City launch new legal action against Premier League APT rules
2025-02-08
Category: sports

Manchester City have launched a fresh legal challenge against the Premier League over new rules governing sponsorship deals which the club claims are "void".Last year an independent arbitration panel found aspects of the league's Associated Party Transaction regulations (APTs) to be unlawful after a lawsuit instigated by the champions.The rules were formed by the Premier League to prevent clubs from profiting from commercial deals with companies linked to their owners that are deemed above "fair market value".In November a majority of top-flight clubs voted to approve amendments to the APTs, despite opposition from City.In a letter to clubs on Thursday, which has been seen by BBC Sport, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters wrote, "On January 20, 2025, Manchester City FC began a further arbitration to challenge the APT rules... the new challenge relates to the amendments to the APT rules that clubs approved at the 22 November 2024 shareholders' meeting."Manchester City FC seeks a declaration that the amendments approved by clubs in November (and therefore the current APT rules in force) are unlawful and void."The Premier League remains strongly of the view that the amendments passed in November were lawful and the APT rules comply with all competition law requirements."We consider that the new arbitration must be resolved as soon as possible and, to that end, have agreed that the same tribunal should be appointed to hear the new case. The parties are currently corresponding in relation to further directions."The APT rules remain in full force and effect and clubs remain required to comply with all aspects of the system."
'A legal battle that has cost millions of pounds'
Last year a tribunal ruled low-interest shareholder loans should not be excluded from the scope of the APTs, and changes made to toughen up the regulations also breached competition law.Following the ruling, City criticised the Premier League's "misleading" suggestion the regulations could be swiftly amended - and threatened further legal action if there was a "knee-jerk reaction".City insisted the league's proposed changes "would introduce into the rules a retrospective exemption for shareholder loans... one of the very things that was found to be illegal in the recent arbitration". It said there should be no vote on changes before a further determination by the panel.However, the Premier League voted through the amendments despite opposition from Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa, as well as City.The Premier League and City attended a two-day hearing last week to make submissions in relation to the impact of the original ruling. The panel is still deliberating.This is the latest development in a long-running legal battle that has already cost both sides millions of pounds in legal fees. City are also awaiting the outcome of a landmark disciplinary hearing after being charged by the Premier League with more than 100 alleged breaches of financial rules. The club denies wrongdoing.The news about City's latest legal challenge also comes less than a week before top-flight clubs gather for their first shareholder meeting of 2025 in London.Both Manchester City and the Premier League declined to comment.