APT (APT) is one of the new rules that has been formed in recent years and it has caused many clubs to suffer. Man City is one of the teams that has been accused of violating and has struggled in recent seasons to get things together.
After a long period of being accused of violations by the Premier League, Man City announced that they had won the lawsuit. However, the special thing about this case is that the Premier League also made a similar statement. The court's ruling stated that the Premier League's revised APT rules and regulations in December 2021 and February 2024 were "illegitimate". The court said it violated UK competition law by deliberately issuing loans from shareholders. When a club borrows money from its own owner, this amount is usually not charged at interest.
The Premier League has previously accused Man City of using funding deals with companies linked to owners to inflate revenue, creating conditions for them to spend more. The Etihad team has repeatedly denied this. A statement released from the Etihad on October 7 (UK time) said that the Premier League was discovered by the court to have abused its position in the tournament to accuse the club.
After that, Man City also proposed to cancel two judgments that the sponsorship contracts of Emirates Air Group and First Abu Dhabi Bank were in violation of the APT.
As for the Premier League, they are not sad when Man City escaped the penalty. On the contrary, the organizing committee also "welcomed" the court's verdict. The Premier League admitted that the decisions to amend the APT were "slightly" inconsistent with UK competition law. However, they said that these actions support the general goals, framework and decision-making process of the entire APT system.
The organizers added that the court has considered the APT rules to be necessary as a means of ensuring the effectiveness of the PropR rule, thereby supporting and bringing integrity and sustainability to sport in the Premier League.
The Premier League said the court had found the APT rules to be necessary as a means of ensuring the effectiveness of the Propitability and Sustainability Regulation (PSR), thereby supporting and delivering integrity and sustainability in sport in the Premier League.
The Premier League added that it will continue to operate the APT system taking into account "new findings of loopholes" from the court's ruling. The tournament also committed that factors that do not comply with competition laws can be resolved "quickly and effectively".
The verdict on October 7 was made by a panel of 3 referees. It came after City challenged the league's APT rules. The lawsuit was filed in June.
An amendment to the current APT rules was scheduled to be discussed at the Premier League shareholders' meeting on Thursday. However, it has been removed from the agenda ahead of schedule.
