Man City in new attack on Premier League after backing from Aston Villa owners NSWE
Aston Villa’s owners NSWE have backed Manchester City in their ongoing dispute with the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola’s side are locked in a legal battle with the competition over Associated Party Transactions (APT) rules, which is not related to the 130 charges case.
The Citizens secured a victory last year as a tribunal found that the APT regulations were in breach of competition law.
The Premier League clubs voted to amend those rules rather than completely rewrite them by a margin of 16 to 4.
Aston Villa side with Man City in Premier League legal battle
Aston Villa have faced their own issues with finances and backed City’s position that the Premier League should have waited for the full ruling rather than amending the APT rules.
A Daily Mail report (2 April) claims that the league took the initial ruling to mean that a small number of adjustments would suffice, however, City urged them to wait until the full verdict was given and were supported by Nasser Sawiris and Wes Edens.
In February, the panel ruled that the regulations were null and void in their entirety but the league believes that the amended version is not impacted and is still “valid and enforceable.”
It states that City, however, believe that it is not legally possible to amend the APT rules that have been declared as void.
Premier League war continues to rage on
The war between City and the Premier League shows no signs of coming to an amicable conclusion anytime soon.
If City are successful once again, it would leave a huge uncertainty over the league’s financial rules and clubs would face big legal bills.
| Premier League | Matches | GD | Points |
| 4. Chelsea | 30 | +17 | 52 |
| 5. Man City | 30 | +17 | 51 |
| 6. Newcastle | 29 | +10 | 50 |
| 7. Aston Villa | 30 | -1 | 48 |
It makes sense that the Villans are backing City, given the issues that they have had with Profit and Sustainability rules themselves recently.
If the Villans to expand on their Champions League campaign this season, they need to invest in top-quality signings and the current structure that is in place will vastly restrict their ability to do that.
Defeat for the Premier League could alter the state of play and potentially allow the B6 outfit to compete at a higher level, if there are less restrictions around how much clubs could spend.