In a landmark judgement last week a tribunal, including a former Master of the Rolls, ruled that the new Premier League Associated Party Transaction (APT) laws were unlawful, potentially representing a damning defeat for the Premier League, and a substantial victory for Manchester City.
The new regulations, which were brought into place in February in response to the 2021 Saudi backed takeover of Newcastle United, were deemed to be anti-competitive and consequently unlawful.
The tribunal took particular issue with the regulation which had stipulated that loans granted to clubs by shareholders had to be independently assessed at market value. Manchester City successfully argued this was anti-competitive, as this regulation specifically stymied clubs owned by Gulf states.
It is now a possibility that Manchester City will press for financial compensation from the Premier League in response to potential loss of sponsorship funding.
Whilst the Premier League spokesperson claimed the Premier League had won a victory with the basic tenets of the APT regulations being maintained, Martin Samuel in The Times argued this was merely a thinly veiled attempt to save face from what any neutral observer would view as a cataclysmic defeat.
Nevertheless, in the Guardian, Paul MacInnes postulated that both sides had reason for cheer. Despite City’s eye-catching win, their complaints against the league were far wider ranging and framed in significantly more serious terms than the tribunal found fault with, suggesting the result was not as clear cut as journalists such as Samuel have suggested.
Furthermore, although this case does not pertain to the further 115 charges Manchester City still face from the Premier League, both sides will believe their claims of victory augur well for their chances of securing a decisive victory in relation to these remaining charges.
On the pitch, Manchester City are next in action after the international break against Wolves on the 20th of October, before hosting Sparta Praha in the Champions League on the 23rd.
“Manchester city etihad stadium (cropped)” by Arne Müseler is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.