Manchester City Accuse Premier League Of ‘Misleading’ Clubs, Say Apt Rules Now Void

LONDON, Oct 8 (Bernama-PA Media/dpa) -- Manchester City have accused the Premier League of “misleading” clubs over the legal case the Blues fought over top-flight rules governing commercial deals, the German news agency (dpa) reported.

City wrote to the other 19 clubs and the league late on Monday to challenge the league’s interpretation of the outcome, and the four-in-a-row champions insisted their position was that all the associated party transaction (APT) rules were now void.

“Regrettably, the summary is misleading and contains several inaccuracies,” the club’s general counsel Simon Cliff wrote in an email seen by the PA news agency.

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“Of even greater concern, however, is the Premier League’s suggestion that new APT rules should be passed within the next 10 days.

“When the Premier League consulted on and proposed the original APT rules in late 2021, we pointed out that the process (which took several weeks) was rushed, ill-thought-out and would result in rules that were anti-competitive. The recent award has validated those concerns entirely.

“The tribunal has declared the APT rules to be unlawful. MCFC’s (Manchester City Football Club’s) position is that this means that all of the APT rules are void, and have been since 2021.”

The Premier League had said on Monday that City were “unsuccessful in the majority of (their) challenge” and that a tribunal had determined the APT rules were necessary and pursued a legitimate objective.

The APT rules are designed to ensure commercial deals with entities linked to a club’s owners are done for fair market value.

-- BERNAMA-PA MEDIA/dpa