Man City FFP result ‘might never be public’ as champions ‘fear significant defeat’ in APT case

According to a report, Manchester City fear a ‘substantial loss’ in their associated party transactions (APT) case against the Premier League.

Man City are embroiled in a legal battle with the Premier League as they challenge the APT rules in place, claiming the current regulations are “unlawful”.

APT rules are designed to ensure any commercial deal or player transfer between a club and entities with links to that club’s ownership are conducted at fair market value, so that club revenues are not artificially inflated.

If an arbitration panel declares the APT rules invalid, then clubs would effectively be free to do any commercial deals they wished without any independent judgement being made on whether those deals were for fair market value.

The case began in June and it has been reported this week that the lawyers acting on behalf of both parties have been notified of the independent panel’s decision.

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‘Man City result of the APT case might never be made public’

Interestingly, a report from Football Insider claims the result of the case might never become public knowledge and that the only way us simpletons could find out is in the governing body’s handbook.

The report lets us know that ‘there haven’t been any wholesale changes’, which ‘suggests Man City have likely only secured a minor success at best’.

Journalists elsewhere have claimed that City have been successful in the case against the Premier League, mainly because ‘an amendment to the APT system was dropped from the latest top-flight meeting on Thursday morning’.

However, this is not the case, according to Football Insider, where it is claimed that the champions ‘fear a substantial loss’.

The report adds:

The scheduled vote at the shareholders’ meeting was due to be held on the databank, which was created around the APT system in 2021.

The Premier League board uses the tool to assess fair market value in commercial deals under the APT rules.

Four of Man City’s 10 biggest commercial and sponsorship deals at present are with companies linked to their Abu-Dhabi ownership group, including their stadium naming rights and shirt deal with Etihad Airways.

The Premier League champions have recorded a huge upturn in revenue over the past few years, largely down to their commercial revenue rising from £21million the season before the takeover took place in 2008 to £341.4million in 2022-23.

But sources have told Football Insider the result of the APT case might never be made public and any success for Man City may only be apparent by a change to the Premier League rules.

We are not expected to find out the outcome of Man City’s separate legal battle with the Premier League.

They have been hit with 115 charges for allegedly breaking the league’s financial fair play rules.

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