According to reports, Manchester City has won their challenge on the laws governing Associated Party Transactions, and a vote on the issue will not be held during Thursday’s Premier League shareholders’ meeting.
In its legal battle with the Premier League over Associated Party Transactions (APT) regulations, Manchester City seems to have prevailed.
According to The Times, officials from Leicester City were supposed to attend Thursday’s Premier League shareholders’ meeting, where a vote on amending the APT regulations was abruptly pulled from the agenda. This suggests that a more comprehensive overhaul of the laws may be in the works. These rules were implemented in 2021 when the Saudi Public Investment Fund acquired Newcastle.
This, however, is unrelated to the current Premier League winners’ 115-charge case and, should an independent committee find evidence of it, may result in severe penalties for the team.
As per the existing APT regulations, the Premier League possesses the power to oversee transactions involving businesses associated with club owners to guarantee that fees are not manipulated, thereby offering further flexibility in adhering to spending guidelines. In June, Manchester City filed a lawsuit against the Premier League, claiming that these measures were discriminatory.
It was expected that the decision in the APT lawsuit, which came to a close during the summer, would be made public today. There have been rumours that the Premier League may be softening its stance on the regulations after the vote on amending the APT rules was removed from the agenda for Thursday’s meeting.
Should these rumours turn out to be true, the Premier League would face yet another legal setback. An impartial panel decided earlier this month that the league was not entitled to accuse Leicester City of financial violations within the designated period.
The 115 charges against Man City are the subject of a hearing that started last week. The champions have vowed to vindicate their name and fiercely refute all of the accusations. The hearing is planned to run about ten weeks, but because the independent commission is expected to take a long time to deliberate, the decision might not be made until early in the next year.
As it battles to enforce its regulations, the Premier League reportedly spent more than £45 million on legal fees last season.
The league is embroiled in two distinct legal battles, one with Chelsea and the other with Manchester City, regarding suspected improper payments connected to the club’s previous owner, Roman Abramovich.
In addition, there have been legal disputes about its profit and sustainability regulations (PSR) involving Leicester, Nottingham Forest, and Everton, who were deducted points for the previous campaign.
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