Manchester City win first legal battle against Premier League

Manchester City have won their first legal battle against the Premier League. The case they won is related to the rules on related party transactions (APT). APT is intended to assess the value of sponsorship deals with companies linked to the club's owners. The Premier League has the right to evaluate these transactions to ensure they are not inflated, which could give the club more money to spend under current financial rules.

The rule was changed after a vote last February, with 12 clubs voting to change the rule, while 6 opposed the change.

Manchester City have filed several complaints, with two aspects of the APT rules considered unlawful. One of them is the Premier League's rejection of Man City's new main sponsorship deals with Etihad and First Abu Dhabi Bank.

Man City argues that the latest APT rules do not take into account interest-free loans provided by shareholders to the club. The Sky Blues filed a lawsuit in court in June 2024.

On Monday (October 7, 2024), the court ruled that shareholder loans should not be excluded from the scope of the APT rules, as demanded by Man City. Some amendments made by the Premier League in February also cannot be upheld.

What was said

"The club has succeeded with its claim: the Related Party Transaction (APT) rules were found to be unlawful and the Premier League's decisions on two specific MCFC sponsorship transactions have been set aside," said Manchester City's official statement.

"The court found that the original APT rules and the current (amended) APT rules violate UK competition law and breach procedural fairness requirements. The Premier League was found to have abused its dominant position."

"The court has determined that the rules are structurally unfair and the Premier League has been particularly unfair in the way it applied the rules to the Club in practice," Man City revealed.

This case won by Man City is not directly related to the alleged 115 financial rule violations by the Premier League that The Cityzens are accused of