The battle between Manchester City and the Premier League takes another turn

Yesterday Manchester City celebrated a victory of sorts over the Premier League. Some of the champions' complaints have been upheld after they challenged parts of the Premier League's Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules. But the Premier League also released a statement yesterday declaring that it had also achieved a victory of sorts in the ongoing case. From here, the entire situation took a different turn, according to a new report released today.

Manchester City published a statement on mancity.com following the announcement of the independent panel's decision. It can be viewed below, courtesy of CityXtra's X account. But now it appears the saga will continue, according to a new report from respected reporter Mike Keegan.

The battle between Manchester City and the Premier League takes another turn.

Mike Keegan has reported for the Daily Mail that Manchester City have written to every Premier League club, rejecting the statement released by the Premier League yesterday. Keegan added that the World Cup winner has accused league bosses of “misleading” teams with “inaccuracies”. In addition, Keegan quotes parts of Manchester City's message to the 19 other Premier League clubs. The standout quotes in Keegan’s article are: “Unfortunately, the (league) summary is misleading and contains several inaccuracies. Even more worrying is the Premier League's proposal to adopt new APT rules within the next 10 days. When the Premier League consulted and proposed the original APT rules at the end of 2021, we pointed out that the process (which took several weeks) was rushed and poorly thought out and would result in anti-competitive rules. The recent award has fully confirmed these concerns.”

The entire situation after yesterday's award ceremony continues to develop.

Mike Keegan's report suggests that the battle between Manchester City and the Premier League continues to evolve. The world champion explicitly emphasized in the statement that parts of the Premier League's APT rules were illegal. The statement released by City also specifically noted that the Premier League had “abused its dominant position”. These statements are devastating for the Premier League. This fact cannot be overlooked.

But where things get murky is in the actions of the Premier League. Mike Keegan's report includes the following in Manchester City's general counsel Simon Cliff's message to the other Premier League clubs: “In recent correspondence, the Premier League agreed with MCFC that this was an issue that needed to be resolved by the tribunal. It is therefore notable that the Premier League is now seeking to involve member clubs in a process to change the APT rules. At a time when it doesn't even know the status of these rules.”

Certainly the Premier League cannot carry on as before. Now that part of the APT rules have been declared illegal, they need to be thoroughly reviewed. They also need to be changed correctly. It cannot take the usual path that ends with another costly legal battle. Whether between Manchester City and the Premier League or another club. At some point the status quo has to change for the good of the game.

Summary

The battle between Manchester City and the Premier League continues to evolve. On the APT front, it appears that things will continue. Manchester City had their win yesterday. That seems clear. Now it's time to resolve the matter properly so that the entire game can move forward. Or Manchester City, the Premier League or perhaps another club will take this familiar path in the not too distant future.