Man City risk sparking Premier League ‘civil war’ with rival clubs rules request

After requesting that their competitors dispute the laws regulating affiliated party transactions, Manchester City may be on the verge of igniting a civil war inside the Premier League.

It is possible that Manchester City may cause a civil war in the Premier League after they have requested that their rival teams contest the regulations that the league has established regarding sponsoring deals.

The Premier League has been accused of “misleading” City’s clubs over the outcome of the legal issue that the Premier League is disputing regarding sponsorship deals. Following the conclusion of the recent arbitration procedure, the English champions have now sent a letter to the other 19 teams in an effort to refute the league’s assertion that it emerged triumphant.

Following the declaration by an independent tribunal that the Premier League regulations that control commercial partnerships with parties connected to club owners are invalid, City hailed a victory that will go down in history. The city announced that the tribunal had reached a decision in their favor, determining that the regulations governing Associated Party Transactions (APT) were invalid and, as a result, null and void. This decision was made after the laws were implemented in 2021.City was not in agreement with the Premier League, which stated that the tribunal had supported APT regulations but “identified a small number of discrete elements – which do not, in their current form, comply with competition and public law requirements.”

Clubs are going to convene an emergency meeting the next week in order to examine the matter and make an effort to put an end to the inner-club conflict that has arisen between City and those clubs that are in favor of them and those clubs that are opposed to them.During the course of the arbitration procedure, Chelsea, Newcastle, and Everton all demonstrated their support for City by serving as witnesses. On behalf of the Premier League, a number of teams, including Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, and West Ham, participated in the role of witnesses.

Concerns have been raised by City over the Premier League’s intention to implement new APT regulations within the next ten days. These rules would take into consideration shareholder loans, which are not presently included in the laws that are in place. Simon Cliff, the legal counsel for Manchester City, wrote a letter to the clubs that make up the Premier League. In the letter, he stated that the governing body of the top-flight should take into consideration the conclusions of the tribunal rather than attempting to hurry through altered regulations in order to placate its members.The following is an excerpt from a letter that Cliff wrote: “We will be writing separately about this to the Premier League, but in the meantime, given the findings in the award, this is the time for careful reflection and consideration by all clubs, and not for a knee-jerk reaction.”

It is quite possible that such a foolish course of action would result in more court processes, which would incur additional legal expenditures. It is essential for member clubs to have the perception that they can trust the organization that is regulating them. Due to the fact that the APT regulations violate both public law and competition law, it has been determined that they are illegal. Therefore, they are null and invalid and cannot be enforced in any given situation.

“This has very significant consequences for APTs that have been entered into to date and APTs that are currently being negotiated by clubs.”