Man City FFP: Citizens ‘weakness’ exposed as PL champions are accused of ‘sabre-rattling’
It has been suggested that Man City have a “very weak” case against the Premier League by Keith Wyness as the former Everton CEO accuses the Citizens of “sabre-rattling”.
The Premier League champions have been challenging the league’s associated party transaction (APT) rules in a two-week hearing held last month and it is believed Man City challenged the validity of the rules under UK competition law.
The Times, which first reported details of City’s claim in early June, said the club were seeking to scrap the rules, which were first introduced in December 2021 following the Saudi-led takeover of Newcastle and were most recently strengthened in February.
The rules are designed to ensure any commercial deal or player transfer between a club and entities with links to that club’s ownership are conducted at fair market value, so that club revenues are not artificially inflated.
If an arbitration panel declares the APT rules invalid, then clubs would effectively be free to do any commercial deals they wished without any independent judgement being made on whether those deals were for fair market value.
That could then in turn help clubs boost their declared revenue and give them greater leeway on transfer and wages spending under financial sustainability rules. There are fears it could lead to the clubs whose owners have the deepest pockets – Man City and Newcastle – effectively being in a league of their own in terms of spending.
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It is unclear what, if any, bearing this claim could have on the separate matter of the 115 charges brought by the Premier League against Man City over alleged breaches of the league’s financial rules. A hearing in that case is expected to begin in the autumn. Man City strenuously deny any wrongdoing.
The Guardian reported earlier this month that Man City are ‘claiming the Premier League has treated them unfairly in assessing their commercial income by relying on the analysis of a data company that also works for their rivals’.
The newspaper learned that ‘the league’s scrutiny of the fair market value of City’s deals was undertaken by Nielsen Sports, a global data and media valuation firm that has contracts with several top-flight clubs.’
And now former Everton CEO Wyness reckons Man City are trying to “discredit” evidence from Nielsen Sports, which could be “very factual” with the data company working for their rivals.
Wyness told Football Insider: “It’s a legal manoeuvre. Neilsen have been used like an expert witness would be used in court.
“This is Man City getting their punches in early to try and discredit them. They’re attacking Nielsen Sports because they’ve done work for other clubs in the Premier League.
“That doesn’t seem like great grounds to me. If they’ve done work for other clubs, that’s because they’re very good at what they do. Nielsen’s evidence will be pretty factual.
“They’ll be able to point to the market value of their deals, compared to other deals. I just think it’s a classic manoeuvre, and it actually shows a real weakness in the Man City case.
“It doesn’t sit right to me. If that’s one of their strong angles, it’s a very weak case. It just smacks of sabre-rattling and trying to discredit the witness.”