Manchester City has achieved remarkable feats in soccer in the last few years. Last season, it became the second team in English soccer to win the treble and subsequently, the first club to win the Premier League four consecutive times this year. However, it has been dealt with some backlash by the rival fans and the Premier League over its financial management.

The UAE-owned club is known for its monetary abundance and is fighting legally against a few financial restrictions by the Premier League. But in their recent move, the club’s owner took a dig at the league’s quality and feels it won’t be the same if it continues this way.

The scrutiny the English Champions are facing appears to have gotten to them. Their chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak recently said, “You won’t see the same level [in the #PL] as the last years, because of the levels of regulations that have come in over the last 12 months. The maneuverability in place before allowed teams to do what they were able to do in the past,” expressing concern about the implications of tightening of screws over the Associated Party Transaction (APT) Rules.

Manchester City has already been under pressure because of the allegations of breaching the Financial Fair Play laws. And with the APT rules getting stringent, they will not be able to have the spending advantage like before. However, the club feels that such rules may not allow signings on the merit of the players and the clubs leading to a decline in quality. Hence, they chose to go the legal way to stop the Premier League from enforcing such restrictions.

Manchester City’s legal action against the Premier League disclosed

Citing these rules as a threat to the clubs’ innovative freedom, Manchester City took the legal route in February. The club’s name was not revealed then but has come to light recently as the hearing regarding the matter will commence between the 10th and the 21st of June. This came after the Premier League received a minimum majority to update the ATP rules after clubs initially rejected it in November 2023.

Meanwhile, the ATP directions deal with the sponsorships that sprout from firms directly or indirectly related to the club’s owners. The stiffening of these rules will ensure the deals from such firms will stick to a fair market value, giving fair competition for all the clubs. With the approval of clubs, the Premier League wants to bring these statutes into force, especially after the money-rich PIF from Saudi took over Newcastle United.

Nevertheless, Pep Guardiola’s club remains clear that it wouldn’t want to restrict itself to spending, but can it come triumphant? Let us know in the comments.