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Man City, Premier League Settle Dispute Over Sponsorship Rules
Manchester City has accepted the Premier League’s amended sponsorship rules on associated party transactions, ending a major dispute. The club still awaits the outcome of over 100 financial rule breach charges, which it strongly denies.
Manchester City and the Premier League have reached a settlement in their long-running dispute regarding regulations on commercial agreements.
The club has now accepted that the current rules on ‘associated party transactions’ (APT) are “valid and binding.”
City had launched arbitration proceedings on January 20, challenging the rules, which were introduced to ensure that commercial deals with entities linked to club owners are assessed at fair market value.
The Etihad Stadium side had also criticised the league’s treatment of shareholder loans under the framework.
Both City and the Premier League confirmed they would make no further comments on the matter.
The APT regulations were first introduced in December 2021, shortly after Newcastle United’s Saudi-backed takeover. Last year, City successfully contested the original version of the rules, with a tribunal ruling them unlawful on several grounds, including the exclusion of shareholder loans from market value assessments.
This prompted the Premier League to amend the regulations, with 16 clubs voting in favour of the updated rules in November. The revised framework incorporated shareholder loans into fair market value assessments, though only for ongoing and future transactions, not retrospectively.
City’s acceptance of the amended rules now appears to close the chapter on a dispute that could have significantly impacted the league’s financial integrity if the APT system had been weakened. Without such rules, owner-linked entities could inflate sponsorships and other deals to artificially boost club revenues, providing more room for spending under the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
Meanwhile, Manchester City are still awaiting the outcome of an independent commission investigating over 100 alleged breaches of financial regulations. The hearings, held between September and December 2024, followed charges filed against the club in February 2023. City strongly deny all allegations.
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