Guardiola’s team ‘fear significant loss’ as APT result ‘may never be made public’

According to a report, Manchester City fear a “substantial loss” in its associated party transactions (APT) case against the Premier League.

City of Man are involved in a legal battle with the Premier League as they challenge the current APT rules, claiming the current regulations are “illegal”.

The APT rules are designed to ensure that any commercial agreement or player transfer between a club and entities linked to that club’s ownership is conducted at fair market value, so that the club’s revenues are not artificially inflated.

If an arbitration panel declares the APT rules invalid, then clubs would effectively be free to make whatever commercial deals they wish, without any independent judgment as to whether those deals were at fair market value.

The case began in June and it was reported this week that lawyers acting on behalf of both sides have been notified of the independent panel’s decision.

MORE ABOUT MAN CITY x F365 ARSENAL:
👉 16 takeaways from Man City 2-2 Arsenal: A pretty ridiculous ending to a pretty ridiculous game
👉 Manchester City and Arsenal share a Pyrrhic draw with Pep Guardiola counting on a higher cost
👉 Tetchy Mikel Arteta gives ‘unbelievable’ reaction to Arsenal draw and red card against Man City

‘The outcome of the APT case in Man City may never be made public’

Interestingly, a report from Football Insider claims that the outcome of the case may never become public knowledge and that the only way for us simpletons to find out is from the governing body’s handbook.

The report lets us know that “there have not been any widespread changes”, which “suggests that Manchester City have probably only achieved minor success at best”.

Journalists elsewhere stated that The city was successful in the case against the Premier League, mainly because “a change to the APT system was withdrawn from the last top flight meeting on Thursday morning”.

However, this is not the case, according to Football Insider, where it is stated that the champions “fear a substantial defeat”.

The report adds:

The scheduled vote at the general assembly was to be carried out in the database, which was created around the APT system in 2021.

The Premier League board uses the tool to assess fair market value in commercial deals under APT rules.

Currently, four of Manchester City’s 10 biggest commercial and sponsorship deals are with companies linked to its Abu-Dhabi ownership group, including stadium naming rights and the shirt deal with Etihad Airways.

The Premier League champions have recorded a huge increase in revenue in recent years, largely due to their commercial income increasing from £21m in the season before the takeover in 2008 to £341.4m in 2022-23.

But sources told Football Insider that the outcome of the APT case may never be made public and any success for Man City may only be apparent through a change to Premier League rules.

We are not expected to find out the outcome of Man City’s separate legal battle with the Premier League.

They were charged with 115 counts for allegedly violating the league’s financial fair play rules.

👉 READ NEXT: Guardiola confirms Rodri out for the season as Man City ‘talk’ about January replacements