On Monday, both Manchester City and the Premier League declared victory following the champions’ legal challenge to the English top flight’s rules on commercial deals.
Earlier this year, City initiated legal action against the associated party transaction (APT) rules, arguing that they were anti-competitive.
The APT rules aim to ensure that commercial agreements with entities connected to a club’s owners reflect fair market value. This case is distinct from an ongoing hearing in which City is contesting 115 charges related to alleged violations of Premier League financial regulations.
The Premier League announced that City was “unsuccessful in the majority of [their] challenge,” stating that the tribunal found the APT rules necessary and aligned with a legitimate objective. In contrast, City issued a statement asserting that the tribunal deemed the APT rules “unlawful” and that the league had abused its dominant position under competition law.
The Premier League maintained that the tribunal supported the legitimacy of the APT rules, indicating that they are crucial for enforcing profitability and sustainability regulations (PSR). The league noted that the panel agreed that transactions not reflecting fair market value could distort competition within the league. It also rejected City’s argument that the rules were discriminatory against clubs owned by Gulf region entities.
While the Premier League stated that the panel found in favor of City in “two respects only”—notably, that shareholder loans should not be excluded from APT rules and that a limited number of amendments to the APT rules should not be retained—Manchester City emphasized that the panel found the APT rules “structurally unfair” and set aside specific Premier League decisions regarding the fair market value of two of the club’s transactions.
