Manchester City accuses the Premier League of misleading clubs after the court's verdict | city ​​of manchester

Manchester City accused the Premier League of “misleading” clubs about the legal case they fought on the high-level rules governing trade agreements.

City wrote to the other 19 clubs and the league on Monday night to question the league's interpretation of the result, with the four consecutive champions insisting their position was that all associated party transaction rules (APT, for its acronym in English) were now void.

“Unfortunately, the summary is misleading and contains several inaccuracies,” the club's general counsel, Simon Cliff, wrote in an email. “However, even more worrying is the Premier League's suggestion that new APT rules be approved in the next 10 days.

“When the Premier League consulted and proposed the original APT Rules in late 2021, we noted that the process (which took several weeks) was rushed, poorly thought out and would result in anti-competitive rules. The recent award has fully validated those concerns.

“The court has declared the APT rules illegal. MCFC’s position is that this means that all APT rules are void and have been void since 2021.”

The Premier League argued that it was the party that had successfully emerged from the process because the ruling “confirmed the need for the APT system as a whole and rejected the majority of Manchester City's challenges.” The league said it planned to “quickly and effectively” adjust its rules in talks with its shareholder clubs.

APT rules are designed to ensure that commercial agreements with entities linked to a club's owners have a fair market value. The city declared victory after the arbitration panel determined the rules were illegal because they excluded shareholder loans.

Cliff told the clubs it was “peculiar” that the league had said in its summary that City were unsuccessful in most of their challenge.

“While it is true that MCFC was not successful on all the points it raised in its legal challenge, the club did not need to prove that the APT rules are illegal for many different reasons,” Cliff wrote. “It is enough that they are illegal for a reason. In the end, the court concluded that the APT rules are illegal for three different sets of reasons.”

It is understood the league has called a meeting of clubs to discuss making changes to the rules. Cliff said this was not the time for a “knee-jerk reaction” in reviewing the rules, which he warned could lead to more legal proceedings. He said there was a need to “carefully think” about how to proceed.