The Premier League in a latest reaction to the ruling on Manchester City’s associated party transaction (APT) regulations on Friday night says it’s “taking the necessary time” to decide how to respond to the landmark verdict in the legal battle over rules governing commercial deals.
Both sides claimed victory after the decision of an arbitration panel was published earlier on Monday following a legal challenge by City against the APT regulations.
APT rules are in place to ensure sponsorship deals with companies linked to clubs’ owners represent fair market value.
However, City has denied any wrongdoing.
City had some complaints upheld, with two aspects of the rules deemed unlawful by the tribunal.
Read also: Explainer: The war between Manchester City and Premier League is heating up
The tribunal said low-interest shareholder loans should not be excluded from the scope of APT rules, and that changes made in February to toughen up the regulations also breached competition law.
In its initial response on Monday, the Premier League said the panel “endorsed the overall objectives, framework and decision-making of the APT system”, adding it would seek to amend its rules “quickly and effectively”.
The Premier League has also written to the tribunal panel to get further clarity on the status of the APT regulations.
The APT case is not directly related to the Premier League disciplinary commission, which will hear 115 charges against City for allegedly breaching its financial regulations, some of which date back to 2009.
Richard Masters, chief executive of the league, in his latest correspondence to clubs, disclosed that there have been conversations with clubs over recent days, with constructive and informative feedback provided.
“We now have a comprehensive set of information and data which is helping to inform our recommended approach and rule amendment drafting.
Read also: Man City secure partial victory in legal dispute with Premier League
“We are taking the necessary time to develop our proposals and the associated draft rule amendments for club consideration,” Masters said.
He hinted about a possible meeting of its Financial Controls Advisory Group and Legal Advisory Group on Tuesday, with a full meeting of the clubs following on Thursday.
“We will circulate these to clubs when fully considered and ready, which may impact on the scheduling of our planned meetings with Financial Controls and Legal Advisory Groups, and all clubs next week,” Masters said.
City had earlier claimed that the Premier League‘s summary of the panel’s ruling was “misleading” and contained “several inaccuracies”, in an escalation of the dispute.
In a letter sent to top-flight clubs and the Premier League, City wrote that the rules were now “void”, that the club had “concern [over] the Premier League’s suggestion that new APT rules should be passed within the next 10 days”, and signalled possible further legal action if there was a “knee-jerk reaction”.
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
