Premier League clubs vote to approve changes to rules governing commercial deals
The vote saw 16 clubs in favour and four against
Premier League clubs have voted to implement changes to the rules governing commercial agreements.
In a meeting held in London on Friday, it took less than 30 minutes for clubs to approve amendments to the Associated Party Transaction (APT) regulations.
The vote saw 16 clubs in favour and four against.
Manchester City and Aston Villa, two of the opposing clubs, had previously written to other teams seeking support ahead of the meeting.
This decision follows a legal challenge from Manchester City earlier this year, which led an independent panel to deem parts of the Premier League’s existing rules unlawful.
The Premier League states that the rule changes are aimed at “integrating the assessment of shareholder loans.”
“The purpose of the APT rules is to ensure clubs are not able to benefit from commercial deals or reductions in costs that are not at fair market value by virtue of relationships with associated parties.”
In October, both the Premier League and Manchester City celebrated a victory following the decision of an arbitration panel regarding APTs, which aim to ensure sponsorships with companies linked to club owners reflect fair market value and are not artificially inflated.
Manchester City had some of their complaints upheld, with two aspects of the rules deemed unlawful by the tribunal.
It ruled that low-interest shareholder loans should not be excluded from the scope of the regulations, and that changes introduced in February to tighten the rules also violated competition law.
Following the tribunal’s ruling, City declared the rules “void” and criticised the Premier League’s “misleading” suggestion that they could be swiftly amended.
The club warned of potential further legal action if there was a “knee-jerk reaction.”
However, after meetings of its Legal Advisory Group and Financial Controls Advisory Group, the Premier League proposed several amendments ahead of today’s vote in London.
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