English men's soccer's top-tier Premier League, and heavyweights from that competition Manchester City, have agreed a settlement regarding their legal wrangle over associated party transactions (APT).
This relates to a challenge the Manchester club made against the APT rules in 2024, in which they argued the regulations covering deals made by clubs with companies linked to those clubs' owners were unlawful.
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Now, however, City have admitted and accepted that these rules – laid down by the 20-team Premier League in order to prevent clubs from benefitting unfairly through loose association with other entities controlled by their owners – are valid and binding.
In a joint statement, both parties have said: "Neither the Premier League nor the club will be making any further comment about the matter."
This case is separate from the disciplinary hearing, which took place late last year to determine whether City broke over 100 Premier League financial rules over the last 17 years. The club has always denied wrongdoing in that case, and the results of the hearing are still outstanding.
Regarding the current APT rules, these were introduced by the Premier League in late 2021, following the takeover of Newcastle United by a Saudi Arabia-led consortium.
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By GlobalDataThey were then successfully challenged by Man City last year, when an independent tribunal ruled that several aspects of the current iteration of APT rules were invalid.
Over the last 17 years, since the club's takeover by an Abu Dhabi group in September 2008, City have regularly struck commercial deals with companies based in that region, and indeed multiple which are linked to their owners.
Following the Premier League then suggesting that changes could be made easily, City disputed this, and indeed threatened further action if the league made changes in a "knee-jerk reaction."
The amendments did eventually pass through – despite opposition from several clubs, including Newcastle and Man City – and now both the league and Man City have publicly settled a dispute that will have cost both sides extremely significant amounts in legal fees.
One of the elements in the rules that was found to be illegal last year was that, up until that point, low-interest shareholder loans were not classed as APT – the tribunal then ruled that these should not be excluded.
