There is said to be growing confidence among some clubs that the Premier League will have enough support to win a knife-edge vote on associated party transaction (APT) rules.
The rules were introduced by the Premier League following Newcastle‘s takeover by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. The idea was to prevent clubs from artificially inflating commercial deals with companies linked to their owners.
City, however, argued the rules discriminated against their ownership by the Abu Dhabi United Group, an investment company for the royal family of Abu Dhabi.
A pivotal vote, which follows a legal challenge from the reigning champions, is set to take place on Friday. At least 14 of the 20 clubs will need to vote in favour of updating the rules to allow the changes proposed by the Premier League to be implemented.
Wolves and Everton are now thought to be supporting the Premier League despite voting against stricter APT rules a year ago, according to The Times. It suggests that City’s efforts to block the vote could fall just short of the seven clubs needed to veto it.
Aston Villa are said to be supporting City, while further backing could arrive from Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and Leicester City. Even if all six clubs vote against the proposed changes, they would still be one shy of the magic number.
City brought their legal challenge in June after the Premier League rejected a lucrative sponsorship extension with Etihad, which was deemed to have not been of fair market value.
In their legal challenge, City said they were being impacted by a ‘tyranny of the majority’ when it came to associated party transaction rules, according to The Telegraph.
They also said the rules were ‘deliberately intended to stifle commercial freedoms of particular clubs in particular circumstances, and thus to restrict economic competition’.
The challenge was entirely separate to the ongoing probe into the 115 charges of alleged rule breaches facing City. A verdict on that front will not be announced until next year, though it is expected to arrive before the end of the current season.
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