Premier League clubs will meet over the next few days to discuss the latest fall out involving Manchester City’s challenge about financial controls as battle lines are drawn.
Man City have been in touch with all other clubs this week in the aftermath of a major ruling in its ongoing case against the top flight – telling rivals that the league’s interpretation was ‘incorrect’ and offering to assist any club which ‘has questions’.
Man City have taken on the top flight about rules regarding commercial deals involving clubs’ owners. They are owned by the Abu Dhabi-backed City Football Group and the league blocked sponsorship arrangements with First Abu Dhabi Bank and Etihad Aviation Group that were claimed to have been “not struck at fair market value” and would thus have given the club an unfair competitive advantage at a time when rivals are constrained by profit and sustainability checks.
An independent arbitration panel has declared support of the concept of rules regarding associated party transaction (APT), stating: “It is difficult to see how the PSR can be effective without such a mechanism.” But it has claimed that shareholder loans should also be considered and governed by the same APT framework.
A 175-page verdict leaves the Premier League now needing to get 14 of its 20 clubs to back a re-stated form of APT rules to prevent what is described in the Daily Mail as “sponsorship becoming a source of vast financial imbalance”.
Stances will become clear at a meeting of the 20 clubs to discuss the situation, scheduled for Thursday. There will be no votes or decisions at this meeting. The Mail reports: “A number of clubs expect City to dominate with a lengthy exposition of the failings of the current system — and the Premier League will not even be attempting to lay out a timetable for a new APT system. Some clubs are expected to attend in person and some online.”
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