Manchester City's legal challenge to Premier League sponsorship rules still shrouded in secrecy

The current Associated Party Transactions (APT) rules were brought in following the Saudi takeover of Newcastle United. Credit: PA

At their first meeting of the season Premier League clubs did not spend a single second talking about Manchester City’s legal challenge over restrictions to sponsorship deals.

This could be an indication the league champions have lost their controversial case over Associated Party Transactions (APT).

But of course the lack of discussion today might also mean a decision resulting from the arbitration process they instigated hasn’t been handed down, its judgement is yet to be made public - in short, that process is still ongoing.

At a private arbitration hearing in June, City’s lawyers argued the current APT regulations were anti-competitive. Credit: PA

Because of the Premier League’s insistence on secrecy, few know the truth. Given the significance of what is being judged, given its impact on the league and by extension millions of football fans, the lack of transparency feels archaic.

The current APT rules were brought in following the Saudi takeover of Newcastle United. They were designed to protect the league’s competitiveness by ensuring clubs can’t take advantage of artificially inflated deals with companies linked to their owners. As things stand, all contracts must represent “fair market value.”

At a private arbitration hearing in June, City’s lawyers argued the current regulations were anti-competitive.

Under the APT restrictions, one of the tools used by the League to assess whether a contract is reasonable or not, is a databank where clubs are required to register the size of their commercial deals.

The Premier League was hoping to introduce an amendment to that clause today, but at the last minute pulled it from a vote.

Some sources suggest that to interpret that as a victory for Manchester City and its case against the Premier League over APT is misguided.

Others though, close to the process, take a different view and believe it to be a very significant moment, not just in City’s fight against APT but the 100 plus charges they face in a separate case brought by the Premier League.

That hearing, again in private, is now into its second week and a judgement is not expected until sometime next year.

Before then, if City were successful in their APT challenge, the current arrangements would need to be significantly altered and all 20 Premier League clubs would have to vote on those changes.

When asked about the prospect of that, one senior executive who was at today’s meeting told ITV News “I don’t expect it to happen.”

Club executives did get an update on the Premier League’s legal bills which are racking up in unprecedented fashion. In addition to the two cases against Manchester City, it has dealt with financial fair play breaches by Everton, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City, as well as conducting various other investigations including into Chelsea.

All legal fees are paid out of a central pot that would otherwise be split between the clubs.

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