Man City ‘attack’ PL as ‘letter leaks’ and FFP ‘civil war ramps up’ with ‘new rules’ deemed ‘unlawful’

According to reports, Manchester City have ‘launched another stinging attack’ on the Premier League as their proposed ‘new rules’ are ‘unlawful’.

At the start of 2023, Man City were charged with breaching over 100 of the Premier League’s FFP rules. This followed a four-year probe into their conduct between 2009 and 2018.

Man City have insisted on their innocence, but they could be given a huge fine, points deduction, transfer ban or expulsion if they are found guilty.

Pep Guardiola‘s side launched a separate legal battle against the Premier League earlier this year as they campaigned for the removal of Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules.

While the FFP case remains ongoing, the APT hearing has already concluded. Man City were unable to force the removal of the rules, but it was found that the current regulations were unlawful and changes were needed.

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A detailed report from The Daily Mail claims Man City’s ‘civil war with the Premier League has ramped up’ as the ‘new rules’ are ‘unlawful’.

Man City are said to have ‘launched another stinging attack’ on the Premier League as they have ‘written to all 19 clubs – and the FA – warning that the competition’s proposed changes to sponsorship rules remain ‘unlawful’ and raise the prospect of further legal action should they be given the green light when clubs meet next Friday.’

‘In a league-wide email, City have included an astonishing 11-page letter –seen by Mail Sport – that they received from the Premier League on Thursday, in which the competition strongly defends its position and accuses its own champions of making ‘repeated and baseless assertions’.’

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After the APT verdict was reached in September, Premier League chief Richard Masters wrote to clubs to inform them of the verdict.

This was not accepted by Man City’s legal council Simon Cliff, who wrote to accuse Masters of attempting to mislead their Premier League rivals.

When breaking down the contents of City’s latest email, the report says Cliff sends a ‘clear warning’ to the Premier League about ‘avoiding any future costly legal disputes’ as they must ‘get it right this time around’.

The report revealed.

‘In the email, Cliff says that City are ‘strongly in favour of robust, effective and lawful regulation of related party transactions’. However, he adds that the fact that an independent panel found several of the rules to be unlawful means that the whole system is void and that the previous, less stringent related party transaction rules (RPTs) is now back in force until any new regime is agreed.

‘Cliff says the Premier League disputes this, and so the Tribunal will rule on the state of play in the near future. ‘In the meantime,’ he adds, ‘common sense dictates that the PL should not rush into passing amendments – particularly ones which entail material legal risk – until the PL knows the outcome from the Tribunal’.

‘And in what may be interpreted as a clear warning, Cliff declares that City’s ‘strong desire is to avoid any future costly legal disputes…and so it is critical that the PL gets it right this time round’.’

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‘The letter goes on to highlight three issues. The first is that City consider the proposed amendments are also ‘unlawful’ because they would introduce a retrospective exemption for shareholder loans from December 2021 until the new rules come into effect.

‘‘This exemption is one of the very things that was found to be illegal in the recent arbitration,’ Cliff writes. ‘It is not lawful to re-introduce it into the rules.’

‘The City executive also says that the proposal does not strike the right balance as it allows certain clubs to benefit from shareholder loans, and also claims addressing that issue is unfair because the clubs who took them did not know that the exemption was unlawful.

‘His final point is that the Premier League is rushing its consultation and that it is ‘essential’ to have the tribunal’s verdict before any next steps. ‘One very possible outcome,’ he says, ‘is that the tribunal will declare that all of the APT Rules are void and always have been. How can the clubs meaningfully discuss amendments to rules without knowing if those very rules even exist?’’