Manchester City claim huge win in legal battle against Premier League

It looks like Manchester City has won a "huge victory" in their legal battle against the associated party transaction rules (APT) of the Premier League. As per earlier reports, Premier League teams might be informed on Thursday regarding the resolution of City's legal dispute regarding the league's APT regulations. The guidelines, which were first established in 2021 and were reinforced earlier this year, govern business transactions between clubs and organizations connected to their owners.

This year's June 10–21 arbitration hearing concerned the validity of the league's APT regulations. According to BBC Sport, depending on the resolution of City's legal appeal, premier league teams might be informed at Thursday's meeting whether the regulations need to be changed.

Associated Party Transactions are the business income that clubs receive from businesses that have ties to the club. An illustration might be City's front-of-shirt sponsorship agreement with Etihad, who have ties to the club's owners, as mentioned by Sky Sports earlier this summer.

The purpose of the next Premier League referendum was to change the current regulations. As the Mail pointed out, though, there would presumably be no purpose in changing rules that are already scheduled to be adjusted, if not eliminated, irrespective of the outcome of this week's clubs meeting.

Premier League’s legal battle with Manchester City, Chelsea and Everton

The Premier League has spent a lot of money on legal fees lately, not just because of their interactions with City but also because of the PSR cases that resulted in Everton and Nottingham Forest been penalized points for the previous campaign. It is believed that clubs received costs prior to this Thursday's meeting.

The agenda for Thursday's meeting also included discussion of the VAR rulings made thus far this season. Before the current campaign ends, Tony Scholes, the chief football officer of the Premier League, was supposed to make a presentation on VAR data and refeeeing in addition to an update on the possible implementation of semi-automated offside technology.