FIGHTING ON TWO FRONTS

City case not part of Prem battle

- SIMON MULLOCK

MANCHESTER CITY’S bid to sue the Premier League this week will have no impact on the club’s fight to overturn the 115 charges that continue to leave a stain on the champions.

There have been suggestions that City’s case to prove that new Associated Party Transaction rules that define how top-flight clubs negotiate sponsorship deals are illegal is being driven by a plot to also have the catalogue of serious fraud allegations made against them thrown out.

But the legislation, which deems that any sponsorship agreement linked to club owners must be of fair market value, only came into force in December 2021 before being revised again last January.

The most serious financial charges levelled against City by the Premier League in February 2023 are alleged to have taken place in the period between 2009 and 2018. Neither case will impact the other.