The Citizens won a legal battle against the English league over the relationship between sports institutions and associated companies
In the context of the conflict it keeps with the Premier League, which charged it with 130 counts, Manchester City intensified its stance against the regulatory body.
The club accuses the league of "distorting the competition" in favor of Arsenal, Leicester City, Everton, and Brighton, who "have benefited from huge loans from their owners."
In a hearing held at the end of February before an independent tribunal, "City stated that shareholder loans (owners lend money to clubs) worth hundreds of millions of pounds in those four clubs haven't received the same treatment as other Related Party Transactions (APT)."
Additionally, they point out that they were indeed sanctioned for similar practices, which they consider discriminatory. Manchester City alleges that these regulations "don't meet the requirements of transparency, objectivity, accuracy, and proportionality and are likely to distort the competition."
The team led by Pep Guardiola also presented figures: they claim that Arsenal received loans of U$S 330,000,000 (£259,000,000) in the 2022-23 season; Brighton, U$S 517,000,000 (£406,500,000) in 2021-22; Everton, U$S 573,000,000 (£450,000,000) in 2022-23; and Leicester City, U$S 337,000,000 (£265,000,000) in 2021-22.
After a legal setback, the Premier League will have to pay Manchester City a multimillion-dollar sum exceeding 25 million dollars, following a prolonged dispute related to the link between sports clubs and companies associated with their owners.
In February, an independent tribunal ruled the invalidity of the rules that restricted this type of operations, known in the English league as "Related Party Transactions", in effect from December 2021 to November 2024.
Although various estimates circulated about the compensation that the Premier League would have to face, it was the British media "The Times" that, amid the rumors, revealed that the amount would rise to almost U$S 26,200,000 (approximately 20 million pounds sterling).
Although an independent tribunal will determine the final figure, the calculation corresponds to the legal expenses that Manchester City claims to have faced. Meanwhile, this conflict is independent of the other process the club faces for 115 financial fair-play violations.
The club keeps that those costs should be covered by the Premier, amid a constant dispute that added another episode with the recent complaints from the Citizen team about a regulation (modified after a 16 to 20 vote) which, according to their stance, benefits Arsenal and other rivals.
