A constant in the Premier League since 2021 has been Manchester City winning the title – every year.

The other constant was City pushing back spending restrictions and trying to maintain this all-conquering success while being inhibited by regulations.

And it’s tearing the Premier League apart – with divisions deepening as clubs today held emergency talks to reconfigure rules around restrictions on permitted losses and permitted commercial income.

They are necessary after an expensively assembled squad of City lawyers convince arbitration panel that certain aspects of the regulation violated competition law.

Clubs are allowed to lose £105m over a three-year period and City now claim the rules are void for the last three seasons since the ‘Associated Party Transactions’ (APT) policies – which now introduce regulatory defects – were introduced in 2021.

The future of periods

Confusion persists over the future of spending rules after varied interpretations in the media influenced by City declaring complete victory over the league.

An overly positive frame in the headlines has distorted the perception of results even within the game, creating further rifts between clubs who are equal shareholders in the league.

According to Sky News, the claim that the financial framework was “in the trash” was not the intention of the panel, which clearly concluded that profit and sustainability rules are necessary to maintain sporting integrity and the sustainability of the competition.

But a rewrite is needed to address aspects of the rules deemed illegal.

Changes to the sponsorship agreement

The concept of ATP was introduced to allow clubs to turn to ownership-related companies for sponsorship.

How and when they are then assessed at “fair market value” is the subject of dispute – with the Abu Dhabi-funded city and Newcastle, Saudi property, In particular, in the eyes of rivals and concerns, the value of transactions could be inflated.

Data on the value of comparable sponsorships collected by the league should in future be provided sooner after City successfully argued that it was unfair to only receive them after a final decision had been made.

The entire process – which led to the blocking of deals with Etihad Aviation Group and First Abu Dhabi Bank – has been subject to unreasonable delays and the league must therefore accelerate the process in the future.

Shareholder loans

Clubs are also trying to draw up new terms for shareholder loans to clubs at no interest or preferential rates which are found to be illegally excluded from ATP rules.

In fact, a sweetheart loan deal is akin to inflated sponsorship from companies associated with the property.

A mechanism must therefore be put in place to determine the financial costs that clubs would pay if loans were guaranteed at market rates.

But Sky News understands this is an area which divides clubs. Bigger, wealthier clubs say they could get cheaper rates than a smaller rival.

Learn more:
Man City chase Premier League
Etihad boss denies paying excessive price for Man City sponsorship

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Legal fees

Challenges to the rules and rewriting of the rules are causing the league’s legal bill to skyrocket – to almost £50 million last season, more than five times more than expected.

This is another source of friction, as the money is drawn from central league revenues – mainly TV rights – which are shared by the 20 clubs.

And the bill will only increase.

The league must fend off City’s challenge in the much broader ‘115’ case, concerning allegations of cheating and obstruction of rules dating back to the 2009-10 season.

The future of Richard Masters

The possibility of Richard Masters remaining general manager is a topic of discussion among clubs.

The highlights of his five years in charge have been navigating the league through COVID and thwarting the Super League escape by the elite, including City.

But clubs are unhappy that loopholes are being closed in the rules he presided over, leading to costly legal action.

The league declined to comment on today’s meeting.