Man City, Premier League End Months-Long dispute Over Rules On Commercial deals

https://www.channelstv.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/guardiola-amorim-.jpg

Manchester City and the Premier League have settled their dispute over the rules governing commercial deals.

City have accepted that the current rules for ‘associated party transactions’ are “valid and binding”.

The Etihad Stadium club had launched arbitration proceedings on January 20 against the current rules, which are designed to ensure that deals between teams and entities linked to their ownership are done at fair market value.

READ ALSO: Hjulmand Announced As Leverkusen Coach After Ten Hag Sacking

City’s challenge was understood to have included criticism of the way the Premier League treated shareholder loans under the rules.

The league and City have agreed to make no further comment on the matter.

Manchester City’s Spanish manager Pep Guardiola watches the players from the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on December 1, 2024. (Photo by Adrian Dennis / AFP)

The APT rules were originally introduced in December 2021, following the Saudi-led takeover of Newcastle earlier that year.

Those rules were successfully challenged by City last year, with a tribunal finding them unlawful on multiple grounds, including the fact that they excluded shareholder loans from fair market value assessments.

That led to the Premier League consulting with clubs on amendments to the rules, with 16 teams voting in favour of the amended rules at a meeting last November.

Manchester City’s Croatian defender #24 Josko Gvardiol (3L) is mobbed by teammates after scoring the team’s second goal during the English FA Cup semi-final football match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium in north London on April 27, 2025. (Photo by Adrian Dennis / AFP) / NOT FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING USE / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE

City’s acceptance that the amended rules are valid and binding appears to put to bed an issue that had threatened to have a major impact on the league if the rules had been significantly weakened.

Without APT rules, entities linked to clubs’ owners could potentially overvalue sponsorships and other commercial transactions to boost a club’s revenue, putting that club in a stronger position under the league’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) and therefore giving more leeway to spend on transfer fees and player wages.

An assessment of shareholder loans for fair market value was incorporated into the APT rules last November, but the rules do not apply retrospectively.

Manchester City’s Norwegian striker #09 Erling Haaland (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring their second goal from the penalty spot during the English Premier League football match between Fulham and Manchester City at Craven Cottage in London on May 25, 2025. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP)

Instead, the fair market assessment only applies to ongoing and future loans.

City and the Premier League still await the outcome of an independent commission hearing, which was examining more than 100 charges against the club for alleged breaches of the league’s financial rules, charges City strenuously deny.

The hearing took place between September and December last year, after City were charged by the Premier League in February 2023.