The Premier League and Manchester City’s ongoing legal battle took yet another dramatic twist in recent months after it was deemed the rules regarding sponsorships were deemed unlawful.
In a move expected to shift the momentum between the two parties amid a potential historic legal battle spanning half a decade, clubs are now set to meet with the Premier League to discuss changes to rules regarding Associated Party Transactions.
City are firmly believed to be leading the protest, with support from other clubs widely believed to force the Premier League’s hand.
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The initial lawsuit, brought about by a challenge from Manchester City after they were suspected of breaking the now unlawful rules, was largely focussed on the process of calculating ‘fair market value’ regarding sponsorship deals.
City took issue with the lack of the inclusion of shareholder loans to a Fair Market Value, as well as access to a databank of commercial deals used by the Premier League to reach a verdict on whether a proposed sponsorship is at FMV.
This lawsuit is believed to have been triggered when the league blocked a proposed new deal between City and Abu Dhabi-owned Etihad Airlines.
According to the Mail’s Mike Keegan, a meeting between the Premier League and clubs is set to take place on November 22nd to address issues with the APT rules and to work together to find suitable amendments to the ruleset moving forward.
It is widely expected that these adjustments will allow for an increase in the value of deals, particularly at the top end of the league, with top clubs effectively given limitless earning possibilities.
City have, however, argued that amendments to the rules are not sufficient and that they should be scrapped altogether, quoting the ‘unlawful’ ruling as their lead argument.
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A complete scrapping of these rules would, of course, benefit the Cityzens who will be able to balance their books with massively inflated sponsorship deals with companies firmly associated with their owner, Sheikh Mansour, effectively leaving them untouchable from the very same FFP rules they are currently being prosecuted for breaking.
