MANCHESTER CITY have been handed a date for their latest legal battle against the Premier League.
But the Etihad outfit will have to wait another six MONTHS before their attempt to overturn the rulebook is heard.
City lawyers are arguing that the latest version of the Prem’s Associated Party Transaction rules are invalid.
Those rules were brought in after a contentious decision of the 20 top flight clubs in November, when Chelsea and Manchester United were among those switching sides to back the League as the new measures went through by 16 votes to four.
And despite the significant ramifications if the final ruling goes against the Prem, the matter has been listed for an Arbitration hearing in October – meaning no ultimate decision is likely until Christmas if not later.
Prem boss Richard Masters announced City were challenging the new regulations in February, just a week before they won a major victory over the previous set of rules that had been introduced in 2023.
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An arbitration panel of three senior former Judges determined the “unlawful” rules – relating to sponsorship and other deals with companies related to a club’s owners – could not be fixed by a series of “discrete” tweaks.
That came after City accused Masters of making “misleading” statements and asking rival clubs if they could trust the League leadership.
Despite the Panel ruling, Prem legal advisers have told the clubs that issues in the regulations have been fixed by the November revisions.
City, though, remain convinced that a decision not to look retrospectively at the “shareholder loans” to clubs – money lent by the owner and often at low or zero interest rates – is not legally viable.
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Lord Pannick KC, who has led City’s fight against the “115” allegations of rule breaches between 2009-10 and 2022-23 has also represented them on the APT challenge.
Both sides and English football as a whole are still in the dark over when the verdict of the 12-week hearing that started in October will be announced.
Despite the second APT case being heard by the same legal trio who ruled in City’s favour in February, which was expected to expedite matters, it could be eight months or more, and certainly deep into next season, before clubs will know if their rulebook is legitimate.
