Manchester City chief Khaldoon urges football regulators to be ‘more sensible’
Manchester City chief Khaldoon Al Mubarak has urged football’s lawmakers to relax spending restrictions amid escalating conflict with the Premier League over its financial rules.
It comes after it emerged this week that the champions have launched a legal challenge against the Premier League’s regulations on associated party transactions (ATPs).
That has only heightened tensions in the top flight, with Manchester City awaiting a hearing later this year on 115 charges of breaching Premier League financial rules over several years.
Manchester City chairman Khaldoon made his comments to the club’s in-house media team at the weekend but they were only released on Wednesday.
“I hope there’s a bit more sensibility in regulating, always a balanced approach,” he said. “This is good for all the leagues, be it in England or the rest of Europe.
“I think you won’t see the same level [of spending by clubs] as we’ve seen in the past few years because of the level of regulations that have come into place over the last 12 months.”
The Premier League is in talks over implementing a hard spending cap for the first time, which would see the richest clubs limited to investing a multiple of the poorest team’s income.
It follows similar moves by European governing body Uefa, which now requires clubs participating in the Champions League to spend only a set percentage of their revenue.
Khaldoon said football’s authorities ought instead to concentrate on regulation that eased the increasing burden being placed on elite players.
“My message here is let’s focus on the mental health, let’s focus on the physical health of our players,” he added.
“I think that is very important, rather than spending so much time on the regulatory issues that just kind of slow down the growth of the game.”
Manchester City are challenging the Premier League’s rules on APTs, which state that all such deals should be done at fair market value – not on generous terms only offered by related companies.
The club’s lawyers are believed to have cited competition law in their case, which also includes a challenge to the Premier League’s decision-making process and a claim for damages.
A two-week hearing is due to begin on Monday, according to reports. The Premier League’s case against Manchester City over the 115 charges is meanwhile slated to be heard in November.
The two cases are not related but share common ground, with both centring on what should be considered acceptable practice in club football’s sponsorship arms race.