The reporter reported coldly On 14 February, Manchester City won a lawsuit against the Premier League for the illegality of the Related Party Transaction (APT) rules. The defeat of the Premier League, the rule-maker, could completely change the future of the Premier League. The Independent Tribunal ruled that the Related Party Transactions (APT) Rules, which were in force between December 2021 and November 2024, were unlawful, and that Premier League clubs whose revenues suffered as a result of the rules during this period could sue the Premier League for damage.

Manchester City will also continue to sue the new APT rules, which were amended last year, to clear the way for clubs to earn higher income from related party transactions. This means that clubs controlled by Middle Eastern royal families such as Manchester City and Newcastle United will regain their absolute capital advantage in the fierce investment competition in the Premier League. North American capital, which also has strong financial resources, will also take advantage of the relaxation of this rule to push the competition for Premier League capital to a higher dimension.

The Premier League's Related Party Transaction (APT) rules are the Premier League's new rules for the Saudi royal family's acquisition of Newcastle in 2021. The Premier League is concerned that giants with too much capital, such as Manchester City and Newcastle, will circumvent the Financial Fair Play Act by using their own or affiliated companies to turn their investment spending into sponsorship income through their own or affiliated companies. The APT rules stipulate that any sponsorship contract with a Premier League club must pass a Fair Market Value (FMV) assessment. If it is assessed as inflated, the sponsorship contract will be rejected or the sponsorship amount will be reduced. In addition, the rule also restricts the amount of loans that the controlling party can provide to the club.

However, Newcastle, which was targeted, did not prosecute, and it was Manchester City who took the lead in launching a "lawsuit war" against the Premier League. In 2023, the deal between Emirates United Airlines and First Bank Abu Dhabi to sponsor Manchester City was blocked by APT rules, resulting in the city losing tens of millions of pounds in sponsorship revenue every year. Last year, Manchester City took the Premier League to court on the grounds that the APT rules were illegal.

In addition to wanting to "untie" the restrictions on related-party sponsorship, more importantly, a significant number of the Premier League's 115 allegations against Manchester City for breaches of the Financial Fair Play Act are closely related to the Abu Dhabi royal family's related-party sponsorship of Manchester City from 2009 to 2018. A successful win in a case where the related-party transaction rules are unlawful would significantly reduce the burden on Manchester City to deal with the Premier League's subsequent charges against them for breaches of the Financial Fair Play Act.

The APT rules were found to be illegal, which was a serious blow to the Premier League. The losing side, the Premier League, will have to bear the full costs of the £20 million in litigation costs, as well as face a claim that Manchester City will not receive more sponsorship income due to the APT rules. Clubs that have a sponsorship contract voided or have their amount reduced as a result of this rule can claim compensation from the Premier League. In addition to Manchester City, Newcastle, Chelsea and Aston Villa are all considering making claims. These damages, which could amount to tens of millions of pounds, would cost the Premier League dearly financially and could even be on the verge of bankruptcy.

But for the Premier League, the sky-high compensation is not the most terrible. The defeat of this rules lawsuit could completely upend the Premier League's system of financial fair play rules. Losing the case not only greatly undermines the authority of the Premier League, but also opens the barrier for clubs to challenge the rules through legal means. Clubs such as Everton and Nottingham Forest, which have been penalised for breaching the Financial Fair Play Act, will argue that the Premier League's current Profit and Sustainability Act (PSR) is also unfair and will seek to reduce or revoke the penalties through legal action. In the future, the Premier League will face an increasing number of legal proceedings when enforcing the new version of the related-party transactions and financial fairness rules, and will pay unprecedented human, time and economic costs for this.

The Premier League just passed a new Financial Fair Play Act this week in line with UEFA, which will use the ratio of total salary to total club revenue as the main criterion. The current Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) will remain in place for another season, but the defeat will challenge the Premier League's authority to control the club's finances even more radically. And Manchester City's victory shows that even the world's most powerful professional football league, the Premier League, cannot beat the top team of lawyers hired by Manchester City at a sky-high price. In the coming months, Manchester City could change the Premier League's power structure if they win another 115 charges of breaches of the Financial Fair Play rules in the Premier League.

The oil state capital, led by Manchester City and Newcastle, will gain investment power that is more difficult to restrict. As a result, a model effect has been formed, accelerating the influx of Qatar, which is also an oil-rich country, and North American funds, which have a larger capital volume, into the Premier League, and elevating the capital competition of the Premier League to a dimension that is more difficult for the four major leagues on the European continent to achieve.