Manchester City owner criticises financial rules

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak wants the game's administrators to show "more sensibility" in how they regulate football finances.

Khaldoon made the remarks in an in-house interview recorded last Saturday, prior to The Times reporting on Tuesday that City had issued a legal claim challenging the validity of the Premier League's associated party transaction (APT) rules.

In the same interview, Khaldoon admitted it had taken "longer than anyone hoped for" for the 115 Premier League charges against the club over alleged breaches of financial rules to be heard.

Khaldoon was asked for his views on the regulatory landscape City and all clubs across Europe face, and whether he envisaged it having an impact on this summer's transfer market.

Clubs involved in UEFA competitions next season will only be able to spend 80 per cent of revenue on squad costs such as player wages, transfer and agents' fees, with the figure dropping to 70 per cent thereafter.

Khaldoon said in the interview, which was released on Wednesday: "I hope there's a bit more sensibility in regulating, (that there is) always a balanced approach.

"This is good for all the leagues, be it in England or the rest of Europe. I think you won't see the same level (of transfer spending) as we've seen in the past few years because of the level of regulations that have come into place over the last 12 months."

Khaldoon said he believed the focus of regulators should be on player workload rather than club spending.
"My message here is let's focus on the mental health. Let's focus on the physical health of our players," he said.

"I think that is very important, rather than spending so much time on the regulatory issues that just kind of slow down the growth of the game."

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