He Manchester City announced this Monday his legal victory in the battle he had fought with the Premier League in relation to the rules on associated companies. The Mancunian team reported that the Arbitration Court He agreed with him in his lawsuit, indicating that these rules are illegal, that they violate the competition law of the United Kingdom and that they are discriminatory in their own operation. This matter does not have a strictly direct relationship with the 115 charges for which he has been accused of non-compliance with Financial Fair Playalthough it is true that many of these accusations are related to sponsorships.
Be that as it may, what happened invites a detailed explanation. BBC Sport He did so, indicating, among other things, who had positioned himself on one side and the other in this battle. Chelsea, Newcastle y Everton They did it as witnesses of the Manchester Cityhaving situations similar to the Mancunian situation in terms of trade agreements. For its part, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Brighton y West Ham They acted as witnesses to the Premier League y Brentford, Bournemouth, Fulham y Wolves They wrote letters of support to said body, all of them hoping that City would be harmed. The aforementioned newspaper also pointed out that it had requested statements from all the aforementioned teams after learning of the resolution and had not received a response; and also that a Premier League meeting is scheduled for next week to discuss the sentence.
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The origin of the restrictions on associated companies
Regarding the rules on associated companies, the restrictions were introduced in December 2021, following the acquisition of Newcastle by Arabia. These rules were modified after a vote in February that did not obtain unanimity. 12 Premier clubs voted in favor of changing them, two abstained and 6 voted against. But be that as it may, the modification was carried out and is what led to the legal battle between Manchester City and the Premier League for two sponsorship agreements recently resolved in favor of the Mancunian team. It is planned, however, that the Premier League modify the two aspects in which the Arbitration Court has ruled against them, integrating shareholder loans and eliminating some of the changes that were introduced after the aforementioned February vote. This matter still has some way to go and it will have to be followed very closely to see if it ends up having an impact in terms of the 115 charges for which he has been accused of non-compliance with Financial Fair Play since some of them are related to sponsorships.
