(CNN) — Manchester City has taken legal action against the English Premier League (EPL) over trading rules, the UK’s Times reported on Tuesday.
City, which won a fourth consecutive Premier League title last month, is seeking to end the league’s associated party transactions (APT) rules, according to The Times, which reported on specific excerpts of the lawsuit.
Those rules require that commercial and sponsorship deals involving companies owned or associated with the owners of the same club be independently assessed by the EPL board to determine whether they have fair market value.
Between 2008 and 2015, City was wholly owned by Abu Dhabi United Group, a company owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, according to the website of City Football Group, the club’s parent company, which is majority owned by Newton Investment and Development LLC. . Newton is also owned by Sheikh Mansour, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and President of the Presidential Court of the UAE. The company is registered in Abu Dhabi.
City, effectively owned by a nation state, has come under fire from some who argue it is an entity that has an unfair advantage over its rivals given the value of sponsorship deals with companies owned by the club’s owners.
The APT rules came into force in December 2021 following Saudi Arabia’s takeover of Newcastle United.
According to The Times, City claim the APT rules are illegal and are seeking damages from the league.
According to the Times report, City argue that they are victims of “discrimination” and have been subject to the “tyranny of the majority”, referring to the way the Premier League makes decisions – a minimum of 14 of its 20 clubs is required to approve any regulatory change.
The matter will be heard in a two-week private arbitration hearing, scheduled to begin on June 10, The Times reports.
CNN contacted the EPL who declined to comment, while City have yet to respond to CNN’s request for comment. CNN has so far been unable to verify the litigation document, which according to the Times consists of 165 pages.
The ruling in the APT case could have a significant impact on another legal matter involving City: a separate hearing into alleged financial breaches. A conclusion on that case is reportedly still some time away.
In February 2023, the Premier League accused City of breaching more than 100 financial rules, and the allegations included failing to provide accurate financial information, failing to comply with UEFA Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations and failing to follow the rules of the Premier League on profits and sustainability.
At the time, the club said it had a “full set of irrefutable evidence” to support its position, and City manager Pep Guardiola said he hoped for a quick ruling so that “if we did something wrong, everyone would know.”
Despite City’s legal problems, the club made history in May, becoming the first English team to win four consecutive league titles. In 2023, City won the Champions League for the first time.
But with every trophy comes a constant reference to City’s alleged financial violations, much to the chagrin of president Khaldoon Al Mubarak.
“Of course, it’s frustrating. I think (the references) are always frustrating,” Al Mubarak said in his season-ending interview published on City TV on Wednesday.
“I certainly feel that for our fan base, everyone associated with the club, it is difficult to have these constant references to these positions. I think we as a club have to respect that there is a process we have to go through and we are going through it,” he said.
“It is taking longer than anyone expected, but it is what it is, and I have always repeated it… let us be judged by the facts, and not by claims and counterclaims,” he added.
