Manchester City is now able to finalize a comprehensive agreement with Etihad Airways after the Premier League and the club reached a resolution over the club’s challenge to sponsorship regulations.
In a major move, the competition announced to its teams today that it had reached a deal with City, ending a protracted dispute. With the club successfully having rules on commercial agreements with related parties (APTs) declared illegal, the city has essentially been at war with the competition.
They first took action when the Premier League in 2023 banned a planned agreement with Etihad Airlines, who own the stadium naming rights and sponsor the team’s kits, on the grounds that it was not of “fair market value” (FMV) as defined by the regulations.
Following a legal challenge, a tribunal ruled in favor of the city, declaring the regulations, which were implemented after Newcastle United was acquired by Saudi Arabia, “void and unenforceable.” Nevertheless, the Premier League chose to modify rather than amend the rules in spite of the possibility of more legal action.
Man City settle with PL and accept sponsorship rules are valid
The disagreement between the parties about the APT rules is resolved by this settlement. As part of the settlement, Manchester City acknowledges the legality and enforceability of the current APT regulations. It has been decided that the Premier League and the club will not be commenting on the situation going forward.
In a first dispute over APT in October, the city declared victory after an arbitration tribunal determined that some of the then-existing restrictions were discriminatory. APT regulations should have applied to shareholder loans to their own club, the panel decided, and there were issues with how clubs were informed about what would be “fair market value” in a particular transaction.
The Premier League said that any issues about APT had been settled and that its rules were appropriate after making changes to comply with the panel’s decision. However, the city contested the league’s changes and started a fresh arbitration procedure this year. This second procedure has now been finished.
However, both sides are still engaged in the drawn-out and confidential disciplinary procedure, where the team is facing over 130 counts of violating Premier League regulations.
