Manchester City’s second challenge against the Premier League’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules will go to trial in mid-October, Sky Sports News understands.
The Premier League champions initially challenged the league over the rules in January 2024, with the tribunal ruling in October 2024 that three aspects of the rules were unlawful.
Following a further hearing, a judgment was handed down earlier this year in February finding that all the rules must be void.
City still believe the rewritten APT rules are anti-competitive and breach public law principles, with the new case filed by Manchester City’s lawyers in February.
It is understood the October 2025 hearing will last almost two weeks.
This legal action is separate to the one covering more than 100 charges against City for alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules.
City deny the charges.
Sky Sports News has contacted Man City and the Premier League for comment. This story was first reported by The Lawyer.
Explained: Manchester City’s legal battle with Premier League over financial rules
Sky Sports News chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol explains Manchester City’s legal battle with the Premier League:
Manchester City wanted to sign new sponsorship deals with Etihad Airways and First Abu Dhabi Bank in 2023. They submitted the deals to the Premier League for approval. The deals were blocked for not being fair-market value under the Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules.
City challenged the legality of the rules. This was unprecedented. No Premier League club had previously taken legal action against their own league.
The APT rules regulate sponsorship deals which clubs sign with companies linked to their owners. They were drawn up (and tightened) to ensure that clubs do not sign overinflated deals to boost their revenue (so they can spend more on wages and transfers).
In September last year, an independent panel found that some key elements of the rules were unlawful.
For instance, the rules did not cover shareholder loans. City argued successfully that loans which owners give to their own clubs (typically low interest or interest free) should be subject to the same fair-market value tests as sponsorship deals
The tribunal also found that the APT rules were unlawful procedurally in several respects. For example, clubs who had submitted APT deals for approval should have had access earlier in the process to an anonymised databank of past deals used to determine fair-market value.
City argued that September’s judgment meant the APT rules as a whole were unlawful and therefore null and void.
The Premier League’s position was that the rules could be quickly amended to make them lawful.
In November, Premier League clubs voted 16-4 to back the league and the rules were amended. City, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Newcastle United voted against.
In a judgment published, the tribunal which heard the APT case last year declared that the 2021-2024 rules were “void and unenforceable”.
City saw this as a significant legal victory. The Premier League’s position is the judgement did not cover the new amended rules, therefore the rules remained in place and were enforceable. City launched a new legal action against the amended rules which they believe are still unlawful.
