“Civil war”this is how the British newspaper defined The Times to the movement that will begin Manchester City while going through the scandal that could push him to relegation as a result of an investigation that seeks to clarify whether he broke more than 100 financial rules of the regulation.
Pending the resolution of that trial, the Citizens you They declared war on the Premier League and initiated “unprecedented legal action” against the organization of the first division of England. Without losing sight of the hearing scheduled for November that will define his future in the competition, City owners will first launch their counteroffensive for two weeks starting next Monday.
The club, which is under the control of the United Arab Emirates royal family under the leadership of Sheikh Mansour, aims End associated party transaction (APT) rules, claiming they are “illegal”, so they will even claim a sum for damages from the Premier. These regulations were tightened in December 2021 when Newcastle was acquired by a Saudi Arabian fund.
“The rules are designed to keep the Premier League competitive by preventing clubs from inflating commercial agreements with companies linked to their owners.. The rules dictate that such transactions must be independently evaluated to determine whether they have a “fair market value” (FMV),” journalist Matt Lawton explained the issue in the aforementioned British newspaper.
This, for the City owners, is “discrimination” according to the 165-page legal document they presented and generated a real earthquake among the most powerful entities in the country. From the skyline of Manchester they allege that these Regulations were included by their rivals to stop the overwhelming success they are having on the playing field and they described the movement as a “tyranny of the majority.”.
In England they do not dare to rule out that the presentation of the Citizens be favorable and allow powerful institutions financed by enormous fortunes re-enter their sponsorship agreements without oversight by an independent tribunal. This would generate that they can “enormously” increase the money to be raised and, consequently, also the amount they could spend on signings.
The other 19 members of the Premier League were invited to take part in the legal debate that will begin next Monday: the English newspaper claims that more than half of them “took a step forward” and presented witnesses or evidence to support the defense of the contest.
This movement by the City owners seems to be a first move on the board of power in order to reach the audience that will extend for six weeks starting in November and will determine whether they violated 115 financial regulations and rules between 2009 and 2023with the focus on sponsorships carried out by companies linked to Abu Dhabi.
“The result could dramatically alter the landscape of the professional game and have a significant impact,” indicates the Times. Since what will happen at the end of 2024 “It could lead to huge fines for the club owners and possibly even relegation”.
In the article they warn that the investigation seeks to clarify whether City “hid payments made by its owner, Sheikh Mansour, through third parties and disguised them as sponsorship income”, even before these new ATP regulations that placed a stricter fence when justifying income. Previously, the Premier already requested that these negotiations have a “fair market value.” “If such rules are now considered illegal, they could significantly strengthen City’s defence,” they analyzed.
This debate on the now infamous 115 possible infractions under discussion will have more or less strength depending on the result of the judicial presentation that will open its hearings on June 10. The Premier system suggests that at least 14 clubs (two-thirds) vote positively when approving a change in regulations: City demands an economic recovery for “damages and losses” and even alleges there is “discrimination against Gulf property” from rival institutions when defining regulations.
The owners of one of the most important entities in Manchester want the sponsors linked to the owners to determine how much they want to pay, beyond the independent valuation required by the Premier. He The Times He claims that at least “one club has submitted a witness statement in support of City”, although sources claim that more than half of the top clubs will be on the Premier League side.
“Their rivals believe that what City are doing will actually destroy the competitiveness of the world’s most popular league.allowing clubs with super-rich owners to spend unlimited amounts of money on their teams and infrastructure and override the rules of Financial Fair Play,” explained journalist Lawton, and even assured that They are “spending millions” on attorney fees that is battling in this case that looms on the horizon and even the Premier had to quadruple its expenses in the legal area to prepare this case for next Monday when it should focus its efforts mainly on what will happen in November with the 115 charges. One source defined this movement as a “tactic” in order to wear down resistance of the contest at a legal level.
We must not lose sight of the fact that next Monday a huge battle will be put on the table that will have millions in games because City even intends to achieve a divided trial with a debate on the legality of the APT in the first instance and then determine the damages that claims, that “could potentially amount to tens of millions”.
