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Manchester City has secured an important victory in its legal battle with the Premier League after the rules of the control body around sponsorship have been declared “irrelevant and non -disposable,” The Times said.
The Independent Court ruled in October that the rules around the associated party transactions (APT) – conducted between 2021 and 2024 – in three areas illegal.
The Premier League amended these three laws in November – supported by 16 of 20 members – but the City challenged the validity of appropriate as a whole, and the English champion argument was accepted.
Breaking: Man City achieve the main victory because the premiere rules of the Premier League have been declared naughtyhttps://t.co/vhyshznkm3
– Matt Lawton (@lawton_times) February 14, 2025
According to The Times, who claim to have seen the verdict of the Independent Court, which made three high legal figures in Sir Nigel Deare, Lord Dyson and Christopher Vajda KC, the final award read: “In the first partial final award, it has been proclaimed that the rules have been appropriate and modified APT rules were illegal in three aspects.
“Now the decision is asked whether these three aspects can be separated from the remaining appropriate rules so that these remaining appropriate rules are valid and executive.
“Three aspects in which rules and modified rules have changed illegally cannot be separated with the results that APT rules as a whole are invalid and non -discerning.”
Manchester City and Newcastle could benefit
The APT rules were adopted to prevent clubs from inflating the value of sponsorship contracts with the associated parties. The tribunal verdict could allow the city, mostly owned by Abu Dhabi and Newcastle, majority owned by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund to conclude new agreements.
The Times reports that the CEO of Premier League Richard Masters wrote to its clubs today and tried to play the importance of the tribunal verdict.
In the letter, Masters allegedly admitted that the previous rules were invalid and unstrained, but under stress “new rules were voted in place”.
