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Manchester City claimed a partial win over the Premier League in a legal fight over the commercial rules governing clubs. On Monday, an arbitration panel ruled into Abu Dhabi-owned club’s alleged violations of the English league’s rules on the Associated Party Transaction (APT). An independent panel found the Premier League’s rules regarding APT break competition law into specific ways.
However, the Premier League said the tribunal "endorsed the overall objectives, framework and decision-making of the APT system". With this, City took a legal action against 25 of the regulations in the Premier League’s rulebook regarding the APTs as well as its decision to reject the sponsorship deals. Premier League clubs will now organise two emergency meetings next week to discuss the judgement.
What are the Associated Party Transaction Rules?
The Associated Party Transaction Rules state
Any Premier League club, its players, manager or any 'senior official' need to run dealings with 'associated parties' past them.
'Associated parties'’ are the companies or people who have shown a significant interest in the relevant club, financially or otherwise.
The Premier League's board reviews each transaction, to assess whether they represent a fair market value.
As per the league, the rule helps to build "fairness" across the division, and ends a "reliance on enhanced commercial revenues linked to the club's ownership".
