S Poddar
Manchester City have unveiled a thinly veiled attack on the Premier League, saying that the governing body gave a “misleading” account of last week’s tribunal ruling over commercial agreements. In a furious letter to the league and its clubs, Manchester City’s general counsel, Simon Cliff attacked the Premier League summary that said the verdict had found against the club over its new commercial deals.
The letter, which the BBC managed to obtain before a ruling was made in a significant Premier League case, appears after City faced a legal challenge on the APT rules, which Premier League’s associated party transaction rules protect against. The tribunal ruling, announced on Monday, found parts of the APT rules unlawful. Each side in the City-Premier League dispute claimed a win, but the implications are substantially different between them.
City, owned by Abu Dhabi-based City Football Group, argued that the tribunal’s decision had the effect of nullifying all of the APT rules. The club claims the tribunal never approved the rules nor declared them necessary for the preservation of league financial integrity.
However, the Premier League argues that the tribunal focused on only a few specific elements of the rules that are non-compliant with the requirements of competition and public law. The league further contests that these issues can be sorted out by making appropriate and effective amendments in time.
On the other hand, the APT rules are to ensure that sponsorships made between clubs and companies affiliated or linked to their owners be at fair market value. City’s legal challenge lay in the application of these rules to certain commercial arrangements.
Although City have refused to comment on the letter, the Premier League has staunchly rejected a claim of misleading clubs. According to a high-ranking league source who spoke to the BBC Sport, the summary judgment is fair and not misleading.
Such is the latest turn of events in this legal war between City and the Premier League. The wording of the letter suggests something of a strained relationship between the club and the league, and it might spur some more court cases.
Main Features of the Letter
- Revocation of All APT Regulations: By this declaration, City claims that the decision nullified and voided all rules of APT in their entirety and not partial issues about the rules.
- Lack of Ratification: The club argues that the tribunal did not ratify the APT rules as adopted or indispensable to the financial controls within the league.
- Vagueness Summary: City claims that the Premier League gave a misleading summary of the findings of the tribunal
- The Consequences Would Be Legal: The Premier League might lead to more lawsuits and expensive options for all the clubs through its application.
The battle in court between City and the Premier League has only just begun. The impacts of the judgement by the tribunal and the subsequent interpretations will shape the face of English football for the years to come. With this, both sides of the legal process, it is sure that there is a cloud of uncertainty over the APT rules and its future as well as the club-league relationship.
