Manchester City and Premier League reach agreement over long-standing regulations dispute

Manchester City have been involved in a legal case with the Premier League over the competition's APT rules since last year.

The league's rules were introduced to ensure commercial deals between a club and entities linked to its owners, such as sponsorship agreements, are conducted at a fair market value.

Such rules were brought in to prevent clubs, often those owned by nation states, from inflating revenue to bypass financial regulations by agreeing sponsorship deals with companies linked to the ownership.

Premier League and Manchester City release joint statement

Man City have argued that APT rules were 'anti-competitive and unlawful'. However, this dispute has now been resolved with an out-of-court settlement, per a statement released by the club.

Originally, an independent arbitration tribunal found three aspects of the old APT rules to be unlawful. The Premier League subsequently revised the rules.

The statement released by City and the Premier League reads: "The Premier League and Manchester City FC have reached a settlement in relation to the arbitration commenced by the club earlier this year concerning the Premier League’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) Rules and as a result the parties have agreed to terminate the proceedings.

"This settlement brings an end to the dispute between the parties regarding the APT Rules. As part of the settlement, Manchester City accepts that the current APT Rules are valid and binding."

Neither the Premier League nor the club will be making further comment about the matter.

This is a separate matter from the 115 financial charges against the club.

Supporters of clubs like Newcastle United have also taken issue with the rules given their association with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Newcastle are majority controlled by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of the oil-rich Middle Eastern nation.