The sponsorship rules introduced following Newcastle United’s takeover were ‘bound’ to be declared ‘unlawful’.
That is the verdict of Nick De Marco, the barrister who previously represented Newcastle in the Magpies’ takeover dispute with the Premier League, after a tribunal panel declared that the top-flight’s original associated party transactions (APTs) rules were ‘void and unenforceable’ following a legal challenge by Manchester City.
The Premier League had previously claimed the tribunal had only identified ‘a small number of discrete elements of the rules’ which did not comply with competition and public law requirements. The top-flight even suggested these elements could be ‘quickly and effectively remedied by the league and clubs’.
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However, in their full verdict, the tribunal panel found the APT rules in operation between 2021 and 2024 to be ‘void and unenforceable’. That did not necessarily come as a shock to De Marco, who has previously highlighted ‘strange inconsistencies’ in the Premier League rulebook.
“It was my view at the time that the consequences of the previous decision was bound to be the entire APT scheme was unlawful,” he wrote. “It was surprising how many people did not recognise that.”
The panel had initially found three aspects of the rules to be ‘unlawful’, which led to the Premier League integrating the assessment of shareholder loans, removing some of the amendments made to APT regulations and changing the process by which relevant information from the top-flight’s databank is shared with a club’s advisers.
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However, in their full verdict, the tribunal stated that the three respects in which the regulations were ‘unlawful cannot be severed with the result that the APT rules as a whole are void and unenforceable’.
Richard Masters, the Premier League’s chief executive, acknowledged the ruling in an email sent to member clubs on Friday, but the top-flight’s chief executive stressed it ‘would not impact the operation of the new rules’, which were voted through by 16 clubs back in November. The Premier League are now ‘pressing for an expeditious resolution of this matter’ after Manchester City launched a fresh legal challenge.
