Manchester City Accuses Premier League of Lying
Manchester City has accused the Premier League of lying to the other clubs about the resolution of the lawsuit related to the associated company regulations (APT, for its acronym in English), which was revealed this Monday.
Both the Premier League and City claimed victory in the lawsuit, with the club emphasizing two transactions involving Etihad and the Abu Dhabi bank, which were unjustly blocked by the Premier, violating UK competition law. For its part, the competition stated that "most of City's allegations were dismissed."
One of City’s lawyers, Simon Cliff, sent an email to the 19 Premier League clubs informing them of several "inaccuracies" in the summary presented by the competition.
"Unfortunately, the summary is incorrect and contains many inaccuracies. One of the most important is that the Premier suggests the new APT rules will be approved in the next ten days. When the Premier consulted us about the original APT rules, we stated that the process was rushed and poorly planned, resulting in anti-competitive rules. The verdict has validated those concerns," Cliff explained in the email, which Sky Sports has accessed.
According to City’s claims, the Premier is correct that not all the demands the club intended were met, but they argue that "it is not necessary to prove that the APT rules are unfair," as the court, made up of three judges, has already taken care of that.
The Premier aims to renew the rules as soon as possible, while City advocates for not rushing the process, as this could lead to more legal issues.
These regulations regarding associated company sponsorships were approved in 2021 due to concerns that Newcastle United, purchased by Saudi Arabia, could engage in financial doping by inflating its sponsorships with companies from the same country.
City decided to challenge these rules this year after the Premier delayed the approval of two agreements with Etihad and a Saudi bank.
