The Premier League suffered its first defeat this Thursday in the long legal battle that the highest competition in English football began more than a year ago against Manchester City for a total of 115 violations by the club of financial 'Fair Play'. Although the final resolution of the case will be known at the beginning of 2025, the 'sky blue' team took a break this Thursday with a favorable ruling on their complaint of "damages and perjury" by the English league.
As confirmed by 'The Times', the court ruled in favor of the 'cityzens' regarding the alleged illegality of the Rules on Transactions with Associated Parties (ATP), in force in the tournament since 2021. According to the Mancunian club, they are discriminatory and attack the free market. The reason has to do with the Premier's desire to regulate sponsorship derived from companies whose owners are the same as the club.
According to ATP rules, City promotes financial 'doping', since approximately a third of its sponsors belong to the Abu Dhabi United Group, the largest shareholder of the City Football Group Limited. This would cause clubs to inflate their budgets with contracts that do not correspond to real sponsorship. In addition to the team led by Pep Guardiola, Chelsea has also been accused due to the various companies managed by its owner, Todd Boehly, although the American businessman has managed to free himself from the complaints against him.
The Premier takes a step back in its fight against Manchester City
'The Times' version gained strength after the Premier League's decision to postpone a vote at its last shareholders meeting related to the rules of access to commercial information about English clubs. This would demonstrate City's triumph with respect to the sponsorship agreements and, beyond having no direct relationship with the 115 infractions investigated by the ordinary justice system, it could set a precedent for the final ruling of a process that began last week in London and will last between 3 and 4 months.
For now, the club maintains its confidence regarding emerging successfully from the legal battle, while 14 of the 20 Premier clubs that voted against City in 2023 expect an exemplary punishment against the administration led by businessman Khaldoon Al Mubarak. . Both Pep Guardiola and the 'sky blue' squad have expressed their support for the board, although the risk of harsh sanctions (including losing the category) remain on the table.