Manchester City sue Premier League as bitter battle takes new twist

Manchester City have decided to sue the Premier League in an ‘unprecedented’ legal battle.

There will be a two-week private arbitration hearing starting on Monday, the Times has reported, with City attempting to end the league’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules and seek damages from the Premier League.

The regulations surrounding the upcoming lawsuit concern the laws introduced following Newcastle’s Saudi Arabia-led takeover in December 2021 to prevent clubs from benefitting from commercial deals at highly inflated prices with corporations linked to the club’s ownership. Currently, a reported four of the club’s top 10 sponsors have links with the United Arab Emirates, including Etihad Airways.

The Times has reported City are arguing against these laws, citing themselves as the victims of “discrimination” in a 165-page legal document. City reportedly filed their claim on February 16.

Other Premier League clubs have been invited to take part as the club accused rivals of approving the laws in part to affect their success on the pitch and “discrimination against Gulf ownership” as the rules came in after the Newcastle takeover.

The League has a specific system that needs at least two-thirds (or 14 clubs) to implement rule changes.

City are involved in another legal battle, with a separate hearing due to take place in November surrounding the club’s alleged 115 breaches of the Premier League’s regulations and Financial Fair Play rules (FFP).

These include a failure to provide accurate financial information and accurate financial reports for player and manager compensation between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, and breaches of the Premier League and Uefa’s financial rules. Some of the charges concern a failure to cooperate with Premier League investigations on the matter between 2018 and 2023.

All the allegations have been strongly denied by the club since they were first announced when the investigation started back in 2018.

The November hearing is expected to last six weeks and could lead to repercussions in the form of fines, docked points or further sanctions for Pep Guardiola’s side.