Manchester City start new legal action against Premier League over rules

Daftar Isi

Manchester City has begun new legal proceedings against the Premier League over the rules governing transactions related to associate parties (APT) for a second time.

Rules governing the amount of money that can be generated through sponsorship from companies associated with a club's ownership.

The city is also awaiting a verdict, due in the spring, in relation to 130 charges brought against them for alleged breaches of Premier League regulations. They have denied any wrongdoing.

Trevor Sinclair believes that Nico González cannot replace midfield general Rodri but thinks the Spaniard can play a key role in covering for the absence of his compatriot.

The club has written to the league seeking arbitration over a new set of rules agreed by the clubs before Christmas. This change was implemented following a previous arbitration brought by the club, which discovered elements of the APT rules to be unlawful.

They've received a letter from the league's chief executive, Richard Masters. "On 20 January, 2025, Manchester City Football Club has started a further arbitration on the APT rules," he stated. "As you will see, the latest challenge relates to the changes made to the APT rules that clubs agreed to at the 22 November 2024 shareholders' meeting. Manchester City Football Club is seeking a ruling that the changes agreed by clubs in November (and therefore the current APT rules in force) are unlawful and invalid.

“The Premier League remains firmly of the opinion that the amendments made in November were legitimate and the APT rules satisfy all OFT [Office of Fair Trading] requirements. We believe that the new arbitration proceedings must be resolved as quickly as possible and, in order to do so, we have agreed that the same panel should be appointed to hear the new case. The parties are currently exchanging correspondence regarding further instructions.”

“The APT rules continue to apply in full and remain in effect, and clubs must still adhere to all elements of the system.”

In November, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest voted against the new regulations. Chelsea abstained from the vote. Prior to the vote, City had written to the other clubs, arguing that the decision-making process was being done too quickly. Aston Villa had also warned of potential legal action from City.

"It is now overwhelmingly apparent that any vote (if it occurs) will lead to immediate additional court proceedings by Manchester City FC and a corresponding defence by the EPL (English Premier League), resulting in significant additional costs and unwarranted sidetracking and diversion of time to this matter," the Villa letter states.

The city and the Premier League have been asked for a comment.

Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola denied that City had spent £172m on four players during the winter transfer window as a precaution against a potential transfer ban in case they were found guilty of the charges made against them by the league.

The city historically signs a very small number of players during the winter window, but has brought in Nico González, Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, and Vitor Reis. Guardianiola was asked if the low activity was due to the risk of repercussions.

He said: "I don't agree, but my words won't persuade people that our attributes come from having a high economic status. Over the last five years, we rank second from bottom among the top six teams for net spend."

“Even after everything we’ve spent in this transfer window, we’re still behind Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham. And even Liverpool. The only reason we’re there is because we’ve let so many players go in the previous transfer periods. Even so, I know this club, it's always ‘all about the money’.”

“Within a month’s time, I believe there will be a decision and a verdict, and only then can I share my thoughts on what has transpired so far. Nonetheless, every club has the freedom to make its own choices. It’s essential to consider that over the last decade, we’ve ranked third in net spend, but in the past five years, despite our successes, we find ourselves trailing the top six teams. Consequently, I regret the comments that have been made and I disagree with them.”

González, a midfielder, was acquired, as Rodri has suffered a serious knee injury that the club believes may put an end to his season. City have, nonetheless, named Rodri in their Champions League squad for the remainder of the season. Guardiola was questioned about the likelihood of Rodri playing for the rest of this term.

“The rule is we can just add three players,” he said. “Vitor we cannot take as he is our youngest [most inexperienced] one. I would have liked to bring all four into the Champions League [squad]. I would be delighted to reach the latter stages of the Champions League and Rodri could help us but in my mind Rodri is for next season. Maybe he will return earlier – that would be good for us.”