Reports across Monday have now revealed the list of eight clubs that gave evidence in favour of the Premier League against Manchester City in their APT rules battle.
It has now been confirmed that Manchester City have inflicted a potentially damaging defeat on the Premier League after rules governing commercial deals between clubs in the top-flight and related companies were declared ‘unlawful’ by an independent panel.
Additionally, it has been found that Manchester City were unfairly blocked from agreeing two huge sponsorship deals earlier in 2024, including current stadium and front-of-shirt sponsor, Etihad Airways.
A number of reports have also suggested that Manchester City are now likely pursue compensation and costs from the Premier League for abusing its position of power, whilst other clubs could now seek damages should they believe they have been impacted.
But in a fascinating detail including in documentation issued to clubs and media outlets on Monday, a list of eight clubs are understood to have handed over evidence in support of the Premier League’s position and Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules.
According to The Times, the ruling document states that all of Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, West Ham United, Brentford, Bournemouth, Fulham, and Wolverhampton Wanderers submitted evidence that supported the Premier League.
In light of the ruling, journalist Ben Jacobs has also detailed that several Premier League clubs are now disappointed by the ruling on Manchester City’s case today, including Arsenal, Bournemouth, Liverpool and West Ham.
In a lengthy statement issued on Manchester City’s official club website, the Premier League champions highlight eight crucial points from the findings issued by the Arbitral Tribunal, including the fact that the top-flight had breached its own ruled.
A statement read, “Following today’s publication of the Rule X Arbitral Tribunal Award, Manchester City Football Club thanks the distinguished members of the Arbitral Tribunal for their work and considerations and welcomes their findings:
– The Club has succeeded with its claim: the Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules have been found to be unlawful and the Premier League’s decisions on two specific MCFC sponsorship transactions have been set aside
– The Tribunal found that both the original APT rules and the current, (amended) APT Rules violate UK competition law and violate the requirements of procedural fairness.
– The Premier League was found to have abused its dominant position.
– The Tribunal has determined both that the rules are structurally unfair and that the Premier League was specifically unfair in how it applied those rules to the Club in practice.
– The rules were found to be discriminatory in how they operate, because they deliberately excluded shareholder loans.
– As well as these general findings on legality, the Tribunal has set aside specific decisions of the Premier League to restate the fair market value of two transactions entered into by the Club.
– The tribunal held that the Premier League had reached the decisions in a procedurally unfair manner.
– The Tribunal also ruled that there was an unreasonable delay in the Premier League’s fair market value assessment of two of the Club’s sponsorship transactions, and so the Premier League breached its own rules.”
