Premier League ‘misled’ clubs over legal case, insist Man City
Manchester City have accused the Premier League of “misleading” clubs over the legal case the Blues fought over top-flight rules governing commercial deals.
City wrote to the other 19 clubs and the league on Monday night to challenge the league’s interpretation of the outcome, and the four-in-a-row champions insisted their position was that all the associated party transaction (APT) rules were now void.
“Regrettably, the summary is misleading and contains several inaccuracies,” the club’s general counsel Simon Cliff wrote in an email seen by the PA news agency.
“Of even greater concern, however, is the Premier League’s suggestion that new APT rules should be passed within the next 10 days.
“When the Premier League consulted on and proposed the original APT Rules in late 2021, we pointed out that the process (which took several weeks) was rushed, ill-thought-out and would result in rules that were anti-competitive. The recent award has validated those concerns entirely.
“The tribunal has declared the APT rules to be unlawful. MCFC’s position is that this means that all of the APT rules are void, and have been since 2021.”
Wolves were one of the clubs which reportedly gave a statement of evidence in support of the Premier League rules in the case against City.
