Key Everton and Liverpool Premier League meeting cancelled amid Man City legal action
The Premier League has cancelled key meetings with its member clubs this week in the wake of the Manchester City hearing on APT rules. Last week, three former judges found that the APT rules which restrict businesses who are connected with the owners of a football club from inflating sponsorship deals were unlawful.
The ruling found that these regulations were not in keeping with the UK's laws which promote competition in business. Following the ruling, the Premier League moved quickly to argue that while some aspects of the APT rules would need to be changed, the spirit of the regulations were approved by the panel.
As such, Liverpool, Everton and the remainder of the Premier League member clubs were invited to a series of meetings this week so that amendments could be made quickly. City, however, fired back that the ruling was actually evidence that APT rules were not fit for purpose and as such, they were no longer active rules that need to be abided.
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In yet another blow for the Premier League, they have now chosen to cancel their meetings for this week and it instead appears that changes to APT could be a much longer process. According to The Times, CEO Richard Masters wrote to clubs on Friday to inform them that there could be delays to the process of amending APT.
By Monday night, the member clubs were then informed that planned meetings with the league’s legal advisory group and the financial controls advisory group, which were due to take place on Tuesday had been scrapped, as had the 'emergency meeting' on Thursday which was expected to be vital in altering APT.