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Manchester City have launched another legal attack in their battle with the Premier League over their reworked APT rules, claiming they are illegitimate. The club’s lawyers have formally written to the league seeking a second arbitration hearing to fight the amendments ratified in November 2024 despite their opposition.
The APT regulations are supposed to limit the sums football clubs benefit from sponsorships by companies closely related to club owners. Man City argues also that the current regulations infringe not only legally protected sponsorship activities but, importantly, affect very significantly related shareholders’ loans that may be a common manner by which a club manages its funding.
In a letter to the Premier League clubs, Chief Executive Richard Masters said, “On January 20, 2025, Manchester City FC commenced a further arbitration against the APT rules.” He affirmed that the Premier League remains strongly of the view that the amendments were lawful and in compliance with the statutory requirements of competition law. Masters further emphasized that the APT rules remain in full force and effect; hence, clubs are bound to adhere to all aspects of the system. This marks the second legal challenge to the APT rules after an independent tribunal ruled during previous arbitration that some aspects of those rules were unlawful. Undeterred, the Premier League issued revised versions in November 2024, which have given rise to the current dispute. Manchester City warned at the time that rushing those changes through could lead to further legal action – a threat that has now been realized with the latest arbitration request.
But the headline act, however, is the treatment of the shareholder loans under the new APT rules. Manchester City’s contention is that to exclude such loans from the APT calculations is discriminatory and constitutes a breach of UK competition law. The City’s interpretation of events is not alone in this matter with the likes of Villa, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest already condemning the rule changes.
This ruling could have far-reaching consequences for the financial regulations of the Premier League and the broader governance of football clubs’ finances. Both Manchester City and the Premier League are bracing themselves for a legal process that might set important precedents for the future of financial regulation in English football.
City even with their 115 charges de sue Epl