The Premier League rule change will affect Newcastle United, Manchester United, Everton, Chelsea, and Manchester City.
The Premier League has come under renewed criticism following a vote by teams to tighten restrictions on linked party transactions on Friday.
English top-flight clubs first gathered in November to explore temporarily prohibiting third-party loans, as well as a suggestion to prohibit affiliated party commercial deals unless numerous bids of the same value are presented. Neither motion received the required number of votes.
Newcastle United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Everton, Nottingham Forest, Burnley, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Sheffield United are said to have voted against the temporary ban on January loans. However, during the most recent Premier League shareholders meeting last week, it is understood that two shareholders reversed direction, allowing the current proposal to pass and change what is and isn’t allowed.
The Premier League released a statement that read: “Following a full review of the existing associated party transactions rules and fair market value assessment protocols, clubs agreed to a series of amendments to further enhance the efficiency and accuracy of the system.”
However, according to The Telegraph, Manchester City are threatening the Premier League with arbitration to halt the alterations. Sky News claims that the league has been advised that the modifications are illegal under English competition law.
Newcastle is 80% controlled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and last summer secured a £25 million front-of-shirt sponsorship agreement with PIF-linked events business Sela in accordance with Premier League fair market value standards. PIF also owns one of the four Saudi Pro League teams (Al Nassr, Al Ittihad, Al Hilal, and Al Ahli), however it is not necessarily considered a’multi-club model’.
In contrast, Manchester City is one of 13 clubs in the City Football Group, and Chelsea’s owners just purchased a majority stake in French club Strasbourg.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos, which is due to buy a 25% stake in Manchester United, also owns Ligue One club Nice and Swiss Super League side FC Lausanne-Sport. Everton is being considered for an acquisition by US group 777 Partners, which has a broad multi-club ownership strategy that includes Sevilla, Genoa, Standard Liege, and Hertha Berlin.
Leave a Reply