Man City and Premier League both claim victory in landmark legal case

Manchester City and the Premier League have both claimed victory after the champions challenged the league’s rules on commercial deals.

City launched a legal action against the associated party transaction (APT) rules earlier this year on the grounds they were anti-competitive.

The Premier League said on Monday afternoon City were “unsuccessful in the majority of (their) challenge” and that the tribunal had determined the APT rules were necessary and pursued a legitimate objective.

The APT rules are designed to ensure commercial deals with entities linked to a club’s owners are done for fair market value.

City released a statement saying the tribunal had declared the APT rules “unlawful” and that the league had abused a dominant position under competition law.

A judgement determining all APT rules as unlawful would have had huge ramifications for competition within the Premier League and made it easier for clubs with the wealthiest owners to strike deals linked to their ownership, and in the process benefit from higher revenues, strengthening their position in regard to the league’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR).

However, the Premier League’s position is that while the panel ruling will require some amendments to the rules, it does not call for them to be ripped up, which would in effect give clubs free rein over commercial deals.

Both parties released the 175-page judgement on Monday afternoon, but came to very different conclusions about what it meant.

The panel did find it was anti-competitive to exclude shareholder loans from APT rules and also called for changes to the rules which were adopted earlier this year to be amended.

However, the Premier League said the tribunal had supported the legitimacy of the rules, and said it had found them essential to make the profitability and sustainability regulations (PSR) effective.

The Premier League said the panel had agreed with it that if a transaction is evidently not at fair market value, that would distort competition within the league.

The league also said the panel had rejected City’s argument that the purpose of the rules was to discriminate against clubs with ownership from the Gulf region.

City said the panel had set aside decisions by the league related to two transactions involving City, on the basis that they were procedurally unfair.

The club have also suggested they could look to seek damages based on the panel’s ruling, and that other clubs may look to do the same.

The Premier League concluded its release by saying that beyond the two findings the panel highlighted, its rulebook had been found compliant with competition and public law standards.