Manchester City are suing the Premier League on allegations of discrimination and seeking damages, as they aim to eliminate the league’s Associated Party Transaction rules.
The hearing is scheduled to start on June 10, with Sky Sports News’ Geraint Hughes providing insight into Manchester City’s decision to take legal action and the potential impact on the sport.
What happened?
City’s lawsuit aims to challenge the current APT rules that prevent clubs from artificially boosting commercial deals to stay competitive in the league.
The APT rules, according to Geraint Hughes all boils down to the money and commercial revenue generated by a club. In this case, it’s the commercial revenue received from a company with ties to the club.
In the Premier League handbook, how a fair price is determined for commercial revenue for clubs like sponsorship is through an independent company.
EPL sets a parameter, looks at the deal, investigates it, interrogates it, and audits it to see whether that deal is fair or not.
However, in the case of Manchester City, Sky Blue are in partnership with Etihad Airways which is linked to the club’s owners in Abu Dhabi.
Manchester City’s lawsuit
According to Sky Sports presenter Geraint Hughes, City are arguing that there shouldn’t be a statutory rule aimed to limit a club’s financial potential and clubs should be able to bring in whatever they accrued from sponsorships.
In their lawsuit, Manchester City want to value their sponsorship deals without independent assessment and potentially permit them to spend more on players and wages.
Manchester City argue that the APT rule is “unjust, anti-competitive, and goes against UK business laws.”
The Premier League champions emphasized in their lawsuit that sponsors should be allowed to decide how much they want to pay and also claim that the current rules are discriminatory towards clubs with strong links to the Gulf region.
The Manchester club are also seeking damages in the belief that the APT rules have stifled their success on the pitch despite having won the last four Premier League titles in a row, according to The Times.
Date for the hearing
The hearing is scheduled to begin on Monday, June 10 and is expected to conclude in just under two weeks.
According to the report, “at least one” club has shown support for City, but “more than half” are backing the Premier League.
Meanwhile, the lawsuit may have a significant effect on the City’s upcoming autumn hearing regarding 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s Financial Fair Play rules.
These charges involve the City’s failure to disclose accurate financial information about its revenue and its refusal to cooperate with the Premier League investigation.
A verdict is anticipated on June 11 and there are already rumors circulating that Manchester City may face severe penalties if found guilty, such as potential expulsion from the Premier League campaign.
