Man City ‘could force the Premier League to stump up £20m’ after winning legal battle over Associated Party Transactions

• Manchester City won a legal battle over ‘unlawful’ sponsorship rules in February
• Now, the club are reportedly set to charge the Premier League for their legal fees
• LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! Should Phil Foden miss the Club World Cup this summer to be given a rest? 

By DAVID KENT

The Premier League are reportedly facing a bill of more than £20million as a result of losing the first part of its dispute with Manchester City over sponsorship rules. 

In February, the Premier League champions scored a huge victory in the long-running battle with the Premier League over financial rules. 

A tribunal ruled that sponsorship rules enforced by the league between 2021 and 2024 — brought in after the Saudi takeover of Newcastle to ensure commercial deals with companies linked to clubs’ ownership were at a fair market value — were ‘void and unenforceable’.

Mail Sport reported on the day of the verdict that City were expected to seek the £10m they spent on legal costs from the Premier League. While the top flight would have to pay their own £10m costs — which they could have themselves claimed from City if they had been successful. 

Now, The Times are reporting that City will indeed make an application for the Premier League to pay the club’s legal bills.

It comes as Man City launch an assault on the legality of the Premier League’s subsequent amendments to the sponsorship rules. 

Pep Guardiola marks his sixth Premier League title with chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak (left)

Premier League chief Richard Masters could find himself lumped with a huge legal bill

Man City celebrate their fourth successive Premier League triumph at the Etihad last May

Despite numerous objections from City, clubs voted by 16 to 4 to back Premier League plans to amend rather than rewrite the rules in November. 

The City case claims that the tweaked regulations continue to ‘discriminate’ and highlighting a host of rivals, including Arsenal, who they say enjoy an unfair advantage. 

The same panel which sided with City on their original complaint will again rule on the latest dispute. Should City succeed for a second time it would throw the Premier League’s financial rules into disarray and once again see clubs hit with a hefty legal bill.

The matter is separate from the 130 charges brought against City by the league for alleged breaches of financial rules. However, City are using the same legal team to represent them.

:
Man City ‘could force the Premier League to stump up £20m’ after winning legal battle over Associated Party Transactions

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk