Manchester City have contacted 19 other Premier League clubs to oppose the league's scrutiny of their legal action over related party transactions (APTs).
On Monday, an independent panel ruled on the case, which revolved around the Premier League's rules on commercial transactions with companies linked to clubs. Manchester City were the first team to make a public statement claiming victory in the case, with subsequent Premier League statements suggesting that most of City's arguments were rejected.
As first revealed by The Times and later supported by many other sources, Manchester City's general counsel Simon · Cliff wrote a letter to 19 other clubs in the league warning them not to use the Premier League's "misleading" depiction of the verdict.
Cliff claimed that the Premier League's statement was simply "incorrect" and was rife with "a few inaccuracies". "When the PL consulted and proposed the initial APT rules at the end of 2021, we noted that the process (which took several weeks) was rushed, ill-considered, and would lead to anti-competitive rules," the letter reads. "The recent decision [the Panel's conclusions] fully validates these concerns.
"The court has declared the APT rule illegal. The MCFC's position is that this means that all APT rules are invalid and have been invalid since 2021. "In a recent correspondence, the PL agreed with the MCFC that this is an issue that needs to be resolved by the arbitral tribunal. Therefore, it is worth noting that the PL is now seeking to involve the membership club in the process of modifying the APT rules, while at this point it does not even know the status of those rules. APT Rule ...... Competition law and public law that are deemed to be unlawful. This means that they are invalid and cannot be executed. This has had a very significant impact on the APTs that have been signed so far and the APTs that the club is currently negotiating.