Man City win legal battle against Premier League over APT financial rules

Manchester City on Friday, won a legal battle against the Premier League in a long-running battle over financial rules - with conflicting interpretations of its significance.

An independent panel has ruled that the Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules are void and unenforceable.

The Premier League's rules demand that any club, its players, manager or any 'senior official' must run dealings with 'associated parties' past them.

'Associated parties' refer to companies or people who have a big interest in the relevant club, financially or otherwise.

The Premier League's board will then review each transaction and assess whether it represents a fair market value.

The league has insisted that the rule helps to build 'fairness' across the division and end a 'reliance on enhanced commercial revenues linked to the club's ownership'.

City this month launched a fresh challenge against the amended rules, as voted in by a majority of Premier League clubs in November.

The Premier League has however made it clear that this judgement from the panel does not impact the rules in their current form and clubs are expected to continue following them as they await a verdict.

APT rules were first introduced in December 2021 after the Saudi takeover of Newcastle.