Man City APT: Expert gives update on final decision in Premier League case as new date emerges

A dispute between Man City and the Premier League over associated party transactions (APT) could rumble on into next year, according to former Citizens financial adviser Stefan Borson.

Clubs will be sent updated rule change proposals by the Premier League following the first full top-flight meeting since the outcome of Man City’s legal challenge was made public.

Man City challenged the league’s associated party transaction (APT) rules on competition law grounds, via arbitration.

The arbitration panel found the rules – which are designed to ensure any deals between clubs and entities linked to their ownership are done for fair market value (FMV) – were unlawful because they excluded shareholder loans.

Man City said that meant all the APT rules were void, and accused the Premier League of misleading the other 19 clubs in its initial interpretation of the panel judgement.

The Premier League is since understood to have sought clarification from the panel over the implications of the judgement, but in the meantime has been canvassing clubs over changing the aspects of the rules found to be unlawful or unfair.

The league, in co-operation with its clubs, is now examining how to include shareholder loans within the APT rules and requested feedback by October 10 from clubs about the shareholder loans they have, or have had in the last three years.

Two Premier League working groups met ten days ago to help further scrutinise proposals for rule amendments which were put to all 20 clubs – including Man City – at a hybrid meeting lasting around an hour on Tuesday.

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Following feedback provided at the meeting, the league will now further update the proposals and recirculate them to clubs. It is understood the feedback was around amendments, rather than any suggestion the proposals be scrapped and taken back to the drawing board.

And now football finance expert Borson claims the APT case between Man City and the Premier League could now remain unresolved into the new year.

Borson told Football Insider : “I get the impression that they didn’t do very much in that meeting on Tuesday.

“The first point is that they are waiting for the tribunal to give some further guidance in respect of certain points that they will both make submissions in respect of.

“Those may have been made in writing rather than in a hearing, but we just don’t know in terms of the next steps.

“It’s pretty clear that there is an agreement between City and the Premier League to put some additional questions to the tribunal and to see if they can get a view.

“I suspect what that will be is the extent of the unlawfulness of the existing rules, such that the question is ‘Can they effectively replace certain clauses, or do they have to have a more wholesale rewrite of certain aspects of the rules?’.

“Clearly, if it’s a bigger rewrite, that’s going to take longer, and that’s going to stretch the process out, potentially even into next year just because of where we are in the calendar.

“They need at least 21 days’ notice in respect of any proposals, so those would be sent to the clubs, then there would be 21 days before they vote, effectively in an extraordinary general meeting as it’s known.

“They will then have to get the two-thirds majority that they require.”