The decision to withdraw a vote to amend the Premier League’s associated party transaction (APT) rules has led to speculation Manchester City may have won a legal challenge against those regulations.
Here the PA news agency looks at what we know, and what we don’t.
What is the background to this?
In June it emerged that Manchester City were the club who were challenging the Premier League’s APT rules via arbitration. The APT rules are designed to ensure that commercial deals with entities linked to a club’s owners are done for fair market value.
It is believed City were challenging the rules under competition law. The arbitration hearing took place in June.
A victory for City would have huge ramifications for the league, and arguably make it easier for the clubs with the wealthiest owners to strike associated party deals and in the process strengthen their position in regard to the league’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR).
What has happened now then?
The PA news agency understands there was due to be a vote at Thursday’s clubs meeting related to something called the databank, but the vote was pulled due to club feedback.
The databank is a tool used by the league’s board to assess fair market value in commercial deals under its APT rules, with access to the databank heavily restricted. Some reports have speculated that the withdrawal of the amendment is an indication that City may have won their challenge against the APT rules.
Other sources close to the meeting say the vote was on a very minor point concerning access to the databank.
When will there be a decision in the APT case?
This is where it gets tricky. This is an arbitration case, which is different from a case which goes before an independent commission. In arbitration cases, there is nothing in the rules allowing the publication of an outcome. So the decision may already have been made, but no one can publicly say so.
Under Premier League rule X.31, an arbitration panel chair is able, where the decision is considered to have “wider application” to other clubs, to provide an anonymised summary of the decision to the clubs.
PA understands there was no discussion of the APT case, or of anything else to do with APT rules, at Thursday’s meeting.
So what does that mean?
That could mean no decision has been handed down yet, or it could indicate the Premier League has won the case, and that no rule changes are therefore required.
Neither the Premier League nor Manchester City have commented on this, as you might expect.
The speculation and briefing going on behind the scenes may be crisis management from the parties involved – but whose crisis is it?
How will we ever know what happened?
A City victory would surely, at some stage, necessitate some pretty significant changes to the Premier League’s APT rules. If these occur over the coming months, that would be a strong indication of City success. If the rules do not change in the short to medium term, or get tougher, that would point to a Premier League victory.
Does any of this have anything to do with the 115 alleged breaches of Premier League rules by City?
No, that is a separate case where the hearing is ongoing. A decision in that case is expected to come early next year – and under league rules that one will have to be published.
