Manchester City has revived the legal battle around how sponsorship and commercial arrangements in English football should be governed.
The Premier League club has launched a new legal challenge against the top-flight’s Associated Party Transaction rules (APTs), which were agreed on by a majority of clubs last November.
APT rules stipulate that clubs cannot engage in commercial deals with companies either owned by or also linked to a club owner if the revenue from these deals is deemed to be above ‘fair market value’.
In a statement seen by the BBC, a letter to the Premier League’s 20 clubs written by league CEO Richard Masters read: “On January 20, 2025, Manchester City FC began a further arbitration to challenge the APT rules… the new challenge relates to the amendments to the APT rules that clubs approved at the 22 November 2024 shareholders’ meeting.
“Manchester City FC seeks a declaration that the amendments approved by clubs in November (and therefore the current APT rules in force) are unlawful and void.
“The Premier League remains strongly of the view that the amendments passed in November were lawful and the APT rules comply with all competition law requirements.”
The rules were introduced amid high-value companies and individuals purchasing English football clubs over the past few years. Some stakeholders in the sport have voiced concerns that these owners have signed commercial deals, namely sponsorship arrangements, between the clubs and their other assets as a means of investing in the team.
Manchester City’s ownership by the City Football Group, itself majority-owned by Abu Dhabi United Group, and the purchase of Newcastle United by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), are two of the most commonly cited examples among fans and in the media of clubs benefiting from lucrative overseas owners.
The APT rules were first introduced in 2021 after the PIF takeover of Newcastle United but immediately faced opposition from Manchester City. The club’s challenge against the rules culminated in a two-week arbitration involving all 20 league clubs in October 2024, concluding in a November 2024 vote.
Of the 20 clubs, 16 approved the rules with Manchester City and Aston Villa opposed, the latter’s owner having stated that the league needed a ‘fresh start’. It is understood that Newcastle and Nottingham Forest were the other two clubs opposed.
City’s resurrection of a legal challenge against APT suggests that this process is set to repeat itself. However, given that the majority of clubs seem in favour of the rules based on last year’s vote, City may try to pursue other ways of taking on the regulations.
Premier League clubs now have a range of regulations to adhere to with APT sitting alongside the Financial Fair Play (FFP) and Profit and Sustainability (PSR) regulations, with several clubs having fallen foul of both in recent years.
City’s second legal challenge against APT comes ahead of the final verdict from the hearing into the 115 charges against the club for allegedly breaching Premier League financial rules, which according to team manager Pep Guardiola can be expected next month.
