Man City reportedly sue Premier League over financial rules – the key questions

Manchester City, who last month won a fourth successive Premier League title, are suing the league over its financial rules, the Times reported on Tuesday.

Here, the PA news agency takes a closer look.

Back in February, Premier League clubs were told at a shareholders’ meeting that one of their number had issued a legal threat in relation to the league’s associated party transaction (APT) rules, which were first introduced in December 2021 in the wake of the Saudi-led takeover of Newcastle.

It was reported at the time that City were the club who had issued the threat, and on Tuesday the Times reported full details of City’s claim, which it said would be aired at a hearing starting on Monday.

The APT rules are designed to ensure that any commercial deal or player transfer between a club and entities with links to that club’s ownership are conducted at fair market value, so that club revenues are not artificially inflated.

A club’s declared revenue is a crucial component in calculating compliance with the league’s current profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) which allow a maximum loss of £105million over a three-year assessment period. Revenue will remain critical in determining how much a club can spend on squad costs under new rules set to be adopted by the Premier League in shadow form for next season, and under rules already introduced at European level by UEFA.

The Times says the club’s legal claim challenges the validity of the APT rules from a competition law perspective. It is reported that the claim says City are the victims of “discrimination” in relation to these rules and are subject to a “tyranny of the majority” in that these rules were imposed by a majority vote of Premier League clubs.

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