Manchester City secure victory in legal battle with Premier League

Manchester City have secured a momentous victory in their legal battle with the Premier League after the governing body’s rules around sponsorship were declared “void and unenforceable”, according to The Times.

An independent tribunal ruled in October that the rules around Associated Party Transactions (APT) – enforced between 2021 and 2024 – were unlawful in three areas.

The Premier League amended those three laws in November – backed by 16 of its 20 members – but City disputed the validity of the APT as a whole, and the English champions’ argument has been upheld.

BREAKING: Man City score major victory as Premier League sponsorship rules declared voidhttps://t.co/vhYshZnkm3

— Matt Lawton (@Lawton_Times) February 14, 2025

According to The Times, who claim to have seen the verdict of the independent tribunal made up of three senior legal figures in Sir Nigel Teare, Lord Dyson and Christopher Vajda KC, the final award read: “In the first partial final award it was declared that the APT rules and amended APT rules were unlawful in three respects.

“There now arises for decision the question whether those three respects can be severed from the remaining APT rules so that those remaining APT rules are valid and enforceable.

“The three respects in which the APT rules and amended APT rules were unlawful cannot be severed with the result that the APT rules as a whole are void and unenforceable.”

Manchester City and Newcastle could benefit

Rules around APT were brought in to prevent clubs from inflating the value of sponsorship deals with associated parties. The tribunal’s verdict could allow the likes of City, majority-owned by Abu Dhabi, and Newcastle, majority-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, to strike new agreements.

The Times report the Premier League’s chief executive Richard Masters wrote to its clubs today and attempted to play down the significance of the tribunal’s ruling.

In the letter, Masters is alleged to have admitted the previous rules were void and unenforceable but stressed “new rules were voted into place”.