APT: Man City, Premier League end sponsor rules dispute

Manchester City and the Premier League have reached a settlement in their dispute over the rules that govern commercial deals.

City has accepted that the rules governing Associated Party Transactions (APT) are valid and binding.

The club had mounted a legal challenge against the Premier League, claiming new rules were “unlawful”.

“Neither the Premier League nor the club will be making any further comment about the matter,” a joint statement said.

Last year, an independent arbitration panel found against aspects of the league’s APT regulations after a lawsuit instigated by the club.

The rules were formed by the Premier League to prevent clubs from profiting from commercial deals with companies linked to their owners that are deemed above “fair market value”.

In November 2024, a majority of top-flight clubs voted to approve amendments to the APTs, despite opposition from City.

City are also awaiting the outcome of a landmark disciplinary hearing after being charged by the Premier League with more than 100 alleged breaches of financial rules. The club denies wrongdoing.

The APT rules were introduced in December 2021 after the Saudi Arabian-led takeover of Newcastle earlier that year.

Those rules were successfully challenged by Manchester City last year.

A tribunal then ruled low-interest shareholder loans should not be excluded from the scope of the APTs, and that changes made to toughen up the regulations also breached competition law.

Following the ruling, City criticised the Premier League’s “misleading” suggestion the regulations could be swiftly amended – and threatened further legal action if there was a “knee-jerk reaction”.

City insisted the league’s proposed changes “would introduce into the rules a retrospective exemption for shareholder loans… one of the very things that was found to be illegal in the recent arbitration”.

They said there should be no vote on changes before a further determination by the panel.

However, the Premier League voted through the amendments despite opposition from Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa, as well as City.

The Premier League and City attended a two-day hearing earlier this year to make submissions in relation to the impact of the original ruling.

They have now reached a settlement that will bring to a close a long-running legal battle that cost both sides millions of pounds in legal fees.

(BBC Sport)

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