The Times reported that Manchester City made concessions on the new rules for affiliate transactions (APTs) and agreed to maintain the effectiveness of the rule, provided that the club will not be treated differently when signing a sponsorship contra...
Manchester City issued an official statement today, which has settled a new legal lawsuit surrounding sponsorship rules with the English Premier League, which has enabled Manchester City to now complete a lucrative long-term cooperation agreement with Etihad Airways.
The Premier League informed the clubs on Monday that the matter could no longer be resolved without a tribunal: Manchester City made partial concessions and agreed to retain new rules on "affiliated party transactions (APTs)" while obtaining a commitment - Manchester City will not be treated differently when a sponsorship partnership with a company affiliated with an Abu Dhabi boss.
Affiliate Party Transactions (APT) rules are established to maintain the competitiveness of the Premier League and prevent clubs from inflated the amount of business cooperation through companies associated with their bosses.
The rules dispute between Manchester City and the Premier League began after Saudi Capital acquired Newcastle (the Premier League first introduced relevant rules at that time). In 2023, the Premier League vetoed a proposed cooperation between Manchester City and Etihad Airways involving jersey sponsorship and stadium naming rights, which the Premier League said was "not reaching fair market value", which directly triggered legal lawsuits from Manchester City.
Manchester City and Etihad Airways were signed in 2011, with a 10-year contract worth £400 million. Although the specific amount of the new cooperation is strictly confidential, it is expected to significantly increase the revenue of the eight-time Premier League champion, with a total of up to £1 billion.
In April this year, the legal battle surrounding the new APT rules seems to continue until next year - the relevant hearing was originally scheduled to be held this fall.
Manchester City accused the Premier League of China of distorting the competitive landscape and favoring Arsenal and other clubs that benefited from their boss' huge loans (including Brighton, Everton and Leicester City), saying this gave these teams an unfair advantage. Manchester City said the hundreds of millions of pounds of "shareholder loans" obtained by the above four clubs and provided by the boss are not treated equally with other affiliates (especially sponsored cooperation with the boss's affiliates).
