Manchester City have reached a settlement with the Premier League following a legal challenge mounted by the club over new rules surrounding sponsorship deals.
A majority of Premier League clubs voted in November last year to approve amendments to the competition’s rules on associated party transactions (APTs), which were put in place to prevent clubs profiting from commercial deals with companies connected to their ownership deemed to be above ‘fair market value’.
Those changes came after a lawsuit by City in which the club claimed the rules were “unlawful”.
City contested the amendments in February, but have announced an end to the legal proceedings, accepting the APT rules are “valid and binding”.
A statement from City read: “The Premier League and Manchester City FC have reached a settlement in relation to the arbitration commenced by the club earlier this year concerning the Premier League’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) Rules and as a result the parties have agreed to terminate the proceedings.
“This settlement brings an end to the dispute between the parties regarding the APT Rules. As part of the settlement, Manchester City accepts that the current APT Rules are valid and binding.
“It has been agreed that neither the Premier League nor the club will be making any further comment about the matter.”
