Man City News: Premier League chief told to resign after APT case verdict 

Man City News: Premier League chief told to resign after APT case verdict

Man City and Premier League badges

Man City are facing 115 charges for alleged breaches of Premier League FFP.

Premier League chair Alison Brittain has been told to resign immediately by ex-Everton chairman Keith Wyness after the verdict in Man City’s associated party transactions (APT) case.

 

A dispute over an arbitration panel judgement centred on the league’s associated party transaction (APT) rules is still rumbling on, with Man City having accused the league of misleading the other 19 clubs about what the judgement means.

 

The APT rules seek to ensure that commercial deals between clubs and entities linked to their ownership are done at fair market value (FMV), to avoid such deals being artificially inflated to boost revenue.

 

Man City argue the APT rules are all void because the judgement, published on Monday, found certain aspects of them to be in breach of competition law, whereas the Premier League’s position is that the judgement was on the whole an endorsement of the APT rules and the principles behind it, and therefore only those aspects found in breach need revising.

 

It is understood that the league has sought further clarification from the arbitration tribunal on the judgement’s implications, but in the meantime is working with clubs to update the sections of the rulebook found to be unlawful.

 

The biggest change would be the inclusion of shareholder loans as a transaction to be assessed for FMV. Clubs were asked to supply information to the league by the close of business on Thursday (October 10) about the mix of shareholder loans and loans converted to equity they currently have, and have had in the last three years.

 

This information will help the league draft recommendations that will be put before the league’s Financial Controls Advisory Group (FCAG) and its Legal Advisory Group (LAG) on Tuesday before a wider discussion among all clubs next Thursday morning.

 

Clubs are not expected to vote on any rule changes at that meeting, however.

 

 

And now former Everton chairman Wyness has called for Premier League chair Brittain to step down from her role with immediate effect.

 

Wyness told Football Insider: “There are some weak points right now that the Premier League have got.

 

“Again, it seems to come down to their drafting, rushing through rules and not doing it properly.

 

 

“I’ve got to say and I’m pretty critical as I always have been about the Premier League, I’ve got to say the quality and the presence of the personalities involved are not big enough at the moment in order to handle these sorts of mega clubs.

 

 

“We need some really big personalities to handle this at the moment in the Premier League.

 

“I’ve been hypercritical about the Premier League chairperson, a lady called Alison Brittain, who has been completely absent.

 

“When you’ve got a crisis like this, and this is a crisis in the Premier League, the chairman has got to be out there, front and centre doing this.

 

“Once again, I call for a

resignation as soon as possible.”