Man City launch new legal action claiming Premier League rivals like Arsenal have ‘unfair’ edge

Manchester City have launched a fresh legal challenge against the Premier League. City's latest move relates to sponsorship rules, with the reigning league champions arguing attempts to amend sponsorship rules could be discriminatory.

Back in November, Premier League clubs voted by a margin of 16 to 4 to amend the rules on Associated Party Transactions. The APT rules assess whether deals between clubs and entities linked to their ownership represent fair market value.

Now, City's legal team are of the opinion that even the tweaked regulations are discriminatory. As reported by The Mail, City believe rivals including Arsenal would continue to enjoy an unfair advantage even with the changes put in force.

The same publication reports that City's challenge will be ruled on by the same panel which oversaw the club's initial complaint over APT rules. The champions have argued other clubs receive differential treatment, in part due to shareholder loans not being subject to the same fair market value tests as commercial deals.

The latest challenge from the reigning league champions is unrelated to the 130 charges faced by City, which are being looked into by a disciplinary panel. City, who vehemently deny those charges, are still awaiting a final ruling on that matter.

City disagreed that a small number of amendments to existing rules would be sufficient. The club has argued that the current version of the rules sees tham "fail to meet the requirements of transparency, objectivity, precision and proportionality … and are liable to distort competition".

Back in November, the Premier League issued a statement in relation to changes to the APT rules. "The amendments to the rules address the findings of an Arbitration Tribunal following a legal challenge by Manchester City to the APT system earlier this year," it began.

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“The Premier League has conducted a detailed consultation with clubs - informed by multiple opinions from expert, independent Leading Counsel - to draft rule changes that address amendments required to the system.

“This relates to integrating the assessment of Shareholder loans, the removal of some of the amendments made to APT rules earlier this year and changes to the process by which relevant information from the League’s ‘databank’ is shared with a club’s advisors.

"The purpose of the APT rules is to ensure clubs are not able to benefit from commercial deals or reductions in costs that are not at Fair Market Value (FMV) by virtue of relationships with Associated Parties. These rules were introduced to provide a robust mechanism to safeguard the financial stability, integrity and competitive balance of the League.”

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