Man City get major Premier League legal battle update as Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs watch on
Manchester City have reportedly secured a 'significant victory' in one legal battle with the Premier League.
That's according to The Times. The current Premier League champions have been locked in a separate fight to their ongoing 115 charges case - which is set to conclude in the new year - involving Associated Party Transaction's (APT).
Earlier this year, City issued a 165-page claim against the English top-flight - alleging the APT rules discriminated against Gulf ownership. The regulation was introduced in September 2021 after Saudi Arabia's Private Investment Fund (PIF) completed their takeover at Newcastle United.
The Times has reported that the 20 top-flight sides were ready to vote on the amendment to the rules specific to the database at a meeting in London on Thursday. The databank is said to have been a central pillar to which clubs submit all commercial contracts.
But the vote on the amendment was removed from the agenda and sources have claimed to The Times that the last minute removal has now been interpreted by City's legal team as a 'win'. Although it remains to be seen how changes to the APT rules could, in turn, impact the case concerning the alleged breaches.
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Previously in the APT case, City insisted the rules were implemented to 'deliberately stifle the commercial freedom of particular clubs in particular circumstances and thus to restrict economic competition'.
In June, The Times reported that the outcome could 'dramatically alter the landscape of the professional game and have a further 'significant impact' on the ongoing hearing over the Premier League breaches'.
Clubs feared that, in the event City were be successful, it could enable the richest clubs to value sponsorship deals without assessment - boosting the amount of money that they can raise and allow for greater sums to be spent on players in the market.
City were looking for financial damages for the 'losses which it has incurred as a result of the unlawfulness of the FMV [fair market value] rules'. In their claim, they argued the rules were 'deliberately intended to stifle commercial freedoms of particular clubs in particular circumstances, and thus to restrict economic competition'.
It's worth pinpointing, though, that the APT legal battle is different to the case surrounding City's alleged Premier League Financial Fair Play (FFP) breaches. Last February, the Premier League hit City with 115 charges for, allegedly, breaching financial regulations between 2009 and 2018.
City strongly deny all charges that have been levelled at the. That case remains ongoing.