Man City appear to claim significant victory over Premier League as vote pulled at last minute

Manchester City appear to have claimed a significant victory over the Premier League regarding their third party transaction rules.

The Premier League introduced the rules following Newcastle’s takeover, which was facilitated by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.

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The rules were installed to protect competitive integrity by stopping clubs from artificially inflating commercial deals associated with their owners.

That means that sponsorships must be independently assessed and would only be approved if they are deemed to be of ‘fair market value’.

City had argued the rules discriminated against their ownership by the Abu Dhabi United Group, an investment company for the royal family of Abu Dhabi.

This came after they issued a 165-page claim against the Premier League with a two-week hearing taking place in June.

However, a vote on amending those rules was dropped from a meeting between Premier League club shareholders on Thursday, indicating that City’s legal challenge was successful.

Man City had been seeking financial damages for losses incurred as a result of the ‘unlawfulness of the [fair market value] rules’.

They claimed that the ruled were ‘deliberately intended to stifle commercial freedoms of particular clubs in particular circumstances and thus to restrict economic competition’.

The case is unrelated to the 115 charges of alleged rule breaks facing the Premier League champions.

As such, Man City have refused to comment on whether this means that they have won their legal case.

City – whose latest title was their sixth in seven years – were charged by the Premier League over a year-and-a-half ago in February 2023.

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City were charged with breaking FFP rules around 100 times over nine years from 2009 to 2018.

Their alleged offences have coincided with the club blossoming into the dominant force of English football.

Since then, the investigation hasn’t concluded but Everton and Nottingham Forest have been punished for lesser offences.

The Premier League have argued that City’s case is different because of the depth, scale and complexity of the charges, and the hearing is expected to take ten weeks.

Pep Guardiola’s side deny every count against them.

A range of penalties could be levied at the reigning champions should they be found guilty of any or indeed, all of the charges.

A hefty fine or a points deduction would seem most likely, but City could also be expelled from the Premier League.

Other possible punishments from the Premier League include a transfer ban, which Chelsea experienced in 2019.

In similar fashion, spending limits could be slapped on City, who have spent £1.53 billion on players over the last ten years.

The Manchester club could even face relegation, although former City financial adviser Stefan Borson explained how that’s unlikely.

He told talkSPORT: “There can be no question that, if these charges are proven, this will end in at least relegation. There is the suggestion of conspiracy over, effectively, a ten-year period.

“If proven, this is super serious. Nobody would argue with that. City will say, I promise you, that this is an allegation of the most serious nature.

“It seems to me to be highly unlikely that the conduct is alleged has taken place over a ten-year period with the sorts of individuals that are involved in the club and in the companies that are involved.

“It will be a very big call for any court or tribunal to suggest that this number of people have been dishonest, and perjured themselves.

“That would be a massive call for, effectively, some KCs and maybe a former finance director of a football club, to make against not just Manchester City, but against numerous executives, against third party individuals, and against, of course, potentially senior members of foreign states.”