Manchester City are reportedly taking legal action against the English Premier League.
It has been reported an arbitration meeting will take place over the legality of the league’s rules regarding commercial revenues from entities linked to clubs’ ownership. The rules are designed to ensure any such commercial deals represent “fair market value.”
City are owned by the ruling family of Abu Dhabi and their sponsors include Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways.
The Times says it has seen a 165-page legal document in which City are said to claim they are the victim of “discrimination” over the regulations. The league’s Associated Party Transaction rules were introduced in December 2021 and amendments were agreed last February.
The rules prevent clubs from artificially inflating commercial deals to gain an “unfair advantage over domestic competitors.”
The league said in February the amendments would “further enhance the efficiency and accuracy of the system.” However, they were not unanimously agreed upon.
The arbitration meeting will reportedly last two weeks, starting from Monday.
City have already been accused by the league of more than 100 breaches of their rules, including financial wrongdoing, which the club denies.
Premier League clubs will meet for their Annual General Meeting on Thursday when they will discuss the scrapping of VAR and the introduction of a spending cap.
AP/PTI
