Manchester City are indirectly acting on Newcastle's behalf with their lawsuit against Premier League

 · July 8 2024, 11:30
Manchester City are indirectly acting on Newcastle's behalf with their lawsuit against Premier League
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Manchester City are in a legal battle with the Premier League over the "Associated Party Transaction" rules which say that all sponsorship deals created between clubs and companies with shared ownership must represent fair market value.

These rules suddenly came into effect following Newcastle United's Saudi PIF-backed takeover in 2021 as the Premier League scrambled to bring in rules to stifle Newcastle from doing what Chelsea and Manchester City had done before them - pumping money into the club and buying up top talent to accelerate their rise to the top.

While Chelsea have fallen off over the years, Manchester City continue to dominate, however, they are staring down the barrel of 115 alleged breaches of the Premier Leagues Profit and Sustainability Rules.

That case and the one that Man City have brought against the Premier League are separate, but one could drastically effect the other.

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Manchester City believe the analysis is flawed due to, ironically, associated parties

Details are starting to emerge from the court case surrounding APTs with Manchester City reportedly saying that the analysis of commercial income is flawed as the company assessing the data has ties to other Premier League Clubs.

Going on from there, The Guardian says that Man City told the court that the Premier League's rules are biased against Gulf States citing the quick installation of the APT rules following Newcastle's takeover.

“Legal documents from City also allege that the rules were designed to “discriminate against Gulf owners”. That bold claim is based on the fact that APTs were brought in as a response to the Saudi-backed takeover of Newcastle in 2021.”

This means that Manchester City are fighting the fight on our behalf as we sit back and watch. Should City win their case, it could be huge for Newcastle.

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A win in either case could be huge for Newcastle

The result of the case will be known soon, but there's no idea yet as to when it will be made public.

However, should City win they will definitely feel emboldened going into November's hearing around the 115 breaches of FFP/PSR and if they somehow win that, then that could kick the doors wide open for Newcastle's owners to start throwing money at the club like we've all dreamed about.

If City win either case it will be a good thing for Newcastle, and the best part if, we'll get to reap the benefits without ticking off the Premier League even more than we already have by merely existing.

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