Manchester City FC seeks a declaration that the amendments approved by clubs in November and therefore the current APT rules in force are unlawful and void.
The parties are currently corresponding in relation to further directions. Premier League clubs have changed associated party transaction rules. Despite the fresh legal challenge, the existing APT rules will remain in place and deemed lawful.
They feel those loans should have been subjected to fair market value tests at the time and should now be subject to them retrospectively as commercial agreements from to are scrutinised. City also believe that they are still supported in their stance by the teams that voted with them in October β Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.
This led to the Premier League consulting with its clubs for more than a month regarding making amendments to the APT rules. In November, 16 clubs voted through the changes, with only Manchester City, Newcastle, Forest and Villa voting against the proposed changes. At the time, however, Manchester City argued that no vote should take place until the tribunal had provided its full guidance on the APT rules. And now the four-times-in-a-row Premier League winners are seeking another arbitration.
The amendments to the APT rules in November, the Premier League said at the time, were designed to ensure there is parity between the treatment of shareholder loans and other APTs in the future. Should it be determined that the loan does not represent fair market value, then the club in question will have to terminate or alter the loan to reflect what the Premier League deems to be fair market value and also pay any shortfall in interest.
