The Premier League had a considerable setback after a tribunal had considered its sponsor tiles – which worked for almost three years – zero and invalid.
In a judgment of a bomb – that could now cause a series of gigantic compensation claims and the competition could dive into crisis – an independent panel has chosen the side of Champions Manchester City and assumed that the rules of the Associated Party Transaction (APT) of the League, that from December 2021 to November 2024, were completely illegal.
After proposed deals with Etihad Airways and First Abu Dhabi Bank were blocked in 2023, City took the Premier League before the court, so that the war was effectively explained. They claimed that the APT rules of the competition, around commercial deals clubs with parties that are linked to them, were illegal.
In September last year, a tribunal agreed with City, with the attention of three elements that found it illegal. One was the fact that shareholder loans – where parties with interests in clubs such as Arsenal and Liverpool often borrow money with low or no interest – were not subject to the same real market value tests that were included in the APT rules.
At the time, a row broke out between City and the Premier League, with the latter claiming that a number of adjustments to the rules would be sufficient.
Chief Executive Richard Masters claimed that the tribunal had actually 'endorsed' the APT rules and added that it had only found certain individual elements … that should be changed '.
But in a thrilling reaction to clubs, city adviser Simon Cliff warned against the making of hasty changes and urged those involved to postpone further action until the tribunal had returned a further judgment or their earlier statement meant the entire system, in place of certain sections, instead of certain sections, instead of certain sections, instead of certain sections, instead of certain sections, instead of certain sections, instead of certain sections, instead of certain sections, instead of Certain sections, instead of certain sections, instead of certain sections, instead of certain sections was illegal.
Their opinion was that the statement meant that the entire setup was void.
City also took the seismic step to accuse the Premier League of trying to mislead his members about the seriousness of the situation and increased the threat of further legal steps when they continue.
Anyway, in November clubs voted in changes in APT rules with a majority of 16-4.
Now, in a judgment that underlines the position of the city and that can have serious consequences for the Premier League, the panel, with legal experts Christopher Vajda KC, Lord Dyson and Sir Nigel Tear, returned his final judgment and judged that the apt -Regulations were illegal in their entirety.
This means that all deals that were rejected or reduced in the system under the system, which worked between December 2021 and November 2024, can now be subject to substantial compensation claims.
If a club believes that its competition performance has been damaged by a decision taken under the previous APT system, it could sue.
City has also taken on a legal challenge against the changed rules voted in November. The same panel will rule over their legality in the near future. If she considered it illegal, the competition could be thrown into chaos.
None of the above is linked to the 115 charges that have been genal into the city by the Premier League, due to alleged infringements of financial rules. Although that case has been heard, a judgment remains excellent.
In a further blow that will probably not fall well over the competition, the Premier League may now not only have to pay its own legal bill, but also that of the city. It is thought that the figure of both combined is almost £ 20 million.
Premier League Chief Executive Richard Masters made clubs aware of the situation in an e -mail this afternoon.
In it he acknowledged that the 'earlier rules are void and not -unable to do so', but tried to play the development.
“The previous APT rules are no longer in place,” he said, “and new rules were voted.”
“The competition has previously told clubs that this decision was about the legal status of earlier APT rules and would not affect the functioning of new rules.” That can still be seen. Masters added that the new rules remain in force and that clubs remain needed to stick to them.
The APT rules were introduced after the takeover of Newcastle United by Saudi. In the midst of worries of other clubs, they were aimed at preventing bloated injections from cash in parties that were of their owners – often based in the same country – in an attempt to navigate broader financial rules and enable them To be spent on players and wages.
City, whose case was led by Paul Harris KC and Lord Pannick KC, from Freshfields, will see the judgment as a complete justification of their attitude throughout the entire process.
The final price of 18 pages, seen by Mail Sport, states: 'In the first partial final price it was stated that the APT rules and the amended APT rules were illegal in three respects.
'The question now arises as to whether those three respect from the remaining APT rules can be separated, so that the remaining APT rules are valid and enforceable.
“The three respects in which the APT rules and the amended APT rules were illegal cannot be broken, with the result that the APT rules as a whole are void and not -unable to do so.”
The attention will now shift to the latest legal challenge. If the tribunal were to find the city again, it might be able to conclude City and Newcastle considerably higher similarities with current sponsors.
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