Manchester City launch lawsuit against Premier League for alleged 'discrimination' against club ownership - Reports
According to The Times' Matt Lawton, Manchester City have launched a lawsuit against the Premier League. The reigning champions have alleged discrimination by the league in their case against their Middle Eastern ownership.
City believe that they are being targeted by the majority of the teams in the division for their owner's wealth. The lawsuit comes in light of the Cityzens being charged with 115 breaches of Premier League regulations.
Lawton revealed the details of the case on TALKSPORT, saying:
"Manchester City have indeed launched unprecedented action against the Premier League. They are trying to have rules around associated party transactions which are the sponsorship deals which are linked to the owner . They're arguing that they are unlawful, they're also suing the Premier League for damages if it proves to be the case that they are unlawful. We're revealing the fact the arbitration hearing starts on Monday, we didn't know that before. And the fact that a number of clubs, I think between ten and 12 clubs, have gone into bat for the Premier League."
"What we have here is absolute civil war between the Premier League clubs and there is very provocative language in the claim by Manchester City. They talk about these financial rules that were brought in in December 2021 as being a 'tyranny of the majority'. They also claim discrimination against Middle East clubs," he added.
Manchester City's claims could have major implications for the Premier League if the court rules in their favor. City will now have to go against the other teams in the league to prove that the agreement they all voted on was targeted to hinder them.
Manchester City and the Premier League, a story of differing views of owner involvement
Manchester City take the Premier League to court while they have their own legal troubles to deal with. The Cityzens have come under the scanner on several occasions concerning Financial Fair Play.
City have 115 charges pending that could see them punished severely if found guilty. Fifty-four of those charges involve a failure to provide accurate financial information over nine years between 2009 and 2018. Another 14 charges involve opacity around the details of player and manager compensation while five involve breaches of UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations.
The rest of their charges involve direct breaches of rules agreed upon and followed by other teams in the Premier League. They face seven charges for breaching profit and sustainability regulations that were set in place to ensure the health of the English footballing ecosystem. The also face 35 charges for refusing to cooperate with the Premier League and its investigations.
Manchester City are alleged to have implemented a system of opaque payments and secret contracts. Their finances allegedly involve bloated contracts from their Middle Eastern owners and they have repeatedly failed to disclose details of their remuneration to staff.
Manchester City will have a difficult case justifying those charges leveled against them. In what looks to be the beginning of a protracted and ugly legal battle between them and the Premier League, it remains to be seen if a compromise can or will be entertained by either party.