Manchester City recently won a legal challenge against the Premier League over what they deemed to be illegal rules, but somehow, they are being criticized for doing so.
The Premier League is currently embroiled in arbitration with City, accusing the club of breaching over 100 competition rules. While City denies all allegations, if they are found guilty, they will have no grounds for complaint since they agreed to those rules. However, there is a time when challenging rules is appropriate: when they are so unfair that they cross the line into illegality.
This is precisely what Manchester City did regarding the Premier League’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules, hastily introduced in 2021 after Newcastle United’s takeover, with more than 10 clubs backing them. City followed the rules but claimed they were illegal, and when the league ignored their concerns, an arbitration panel of three senior judges ruled in City’s favor.
Some issues with these rules are simple to resolve, like ensuring clubs can respond before decisions are made. Others, however, are more complex, and even the league has admitted they will take time to address. Regardless of where people stand on City’s reputation—many distrust them due to the accusations of cheating—it’s hard to argue against the fact that illegal rules should be exposed and rectified.
Yet, City has faced backlash for successfully proving the rules were unlawful. In a surprising twist, the narrative has shifted to blame City for calling out the Premier League’s misstep. Commentators have suggested that nobody cared about the rules until City challenged them, or that the club only raised the issue because they didn’t like them. Such arguments miss the point. Using an analogy involving Lance Armstrong—a disgraced cyclist often compared to City—this would be like blaming the US Anti-Doping Agency for exposing his doping scandal.
If objective legal experts deem something illegal, it doesn’t become any less wrong just because some people don’t like the party pointing it out. Defending clear rule-breaking veers into dangerous territory, similar to the kind of deflections seen in Trumpian politics.
There’s no denying that City is acting in its own interest, just as the Premier League and every one of its member clubs do. Self-interest is not a new concept introduced by Sheikh Mansour or Abu Dhabi. In fact, the Premier League itself was born out of a breakaway by the biggest clubs, seeking power and money by creating new rules more favorable to them.
Some fear this legal victory signals that City will challenge any unfavorable decision regarding the ongoing charges against them. However, there’s little evidence to support that assumption. What’s more troubling is that the Premier League has been accused of disregarding its own rules, yet it’s City who are being criticized for calling them out.
In the end, there should be no excuses for the Premier League’s failure to abide by legal standards. City’s challenge was backed by sufficient evidence, and they were right to point out the league’s wrongdoing. Instead of condemning City, the focus should be on holding the Premier League accountable for breaking its own rules.
