"New Rule" Threatens Manchester City and Newcastle in the Premier League

The English Premier League has agreed to tighten the rules of operations between affiliated entities, meaning between clubs and companies with the same owner. This move could impact teams such as Manchester City and Newcastle United, which have sponsorship deals with companies from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

The approval of the new rule, whose details have not been disclosed yet, came this week in meetings held in London between representatives of the 20 Premier League clubs.

The rule change was endorsed by 12 teams, rejected by 4, and two teams abstained from voting. According to sources, one of the teams opposing the stricter measures was Manchester City, which has sponsors affiliated with the United Arab Emirates, which also owns the club.

The Premier League stated in a statement released yesterday, Friday: "After a thorough review of the current regulation regarding transactions between related parties and fair market, the clubs have agreed on a series of arrangements to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of the system."

In November of last year, representatives of the Premier League already voted on similar measures, and the result on that occasion was negative. Clubs were also unable to progress towards implementing a measure at the end of last year to prevent teams from benefiting from transfers between clubs with the same ownership in the winter transfer window, with the aim of hindering potential deals between Newcastle and a club in Saudi Arabia.