Only 4 votes against

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Premier League clubs have agreed at a meeting to introduce new, tougher rules on sponsorship. “Associated Party Transactions” (APT), introduced in 2021, will then assess whether commercial agreements between clubs and companies with links to the respective club owners were concluded under normal market conditions. Manchester City had vehemently tried to block the rule changes.

The English champions are owned by the City (Site notre blog d’information) Group (CFG), a holding company controlled by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi ruling family. Sheikh Mansour is the main investor and founder of the group.

Sponsorship rules: Partial success for Man City in October

The changes take into account the ruling of an arbitration tribunal which previously made adjustments to the APT, partially violating UK competition law. Man City challenged the rules and achieved partial success in October. However, the vote which has just taken place constitutes a bitter setback for the club coached by Pep Guardiola.

16 Premier League clubs have voted in favor of tougher sponsorship rules, intended to ensure competitive balance within the league and prevent artificially inflated contract values. Besides Man City, Saudi-controlled Newcastle United, as well as Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest also voted against.

The result is seen as a success for Premier League chief executive Richard Masters, who has been at odds with Man City for years. A defeat would have called the rules into question and plunged the league into legal chaos. The Premier League is currently investigating 115 financial breaches against City, who deny the allegations. A decision is expected early next year.

In the event of forced relegation, Guardiola has announced that he will remain coach of the Citizens, he recently declared: “I will be there. We will be promoted again next year. I don’t know where they would send us, but we would be promoted and promoted until we returned to the Premier League.