Chelsea £40m deal triggers Premier League rule change - Stefan Borson
Chelsea's £40million Infinite Athlete deal led to new rules on associated party transactions that were introduced in February.
That is the view of finance expert Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider that it is no surprise that the Blues have shown support for Man City in their legal battle against the Premier League.
The reigning champions are currently in the process of challenging the Premier League on their commercial rules after they were toughened up in February.
Top-flight clubs voted earlier this year to toughen up rules on striking commercial deals with parties linked to a club's ownership.
The vote came just months after Chelsea announced a £40million shirt sponsorship deal with US-based Infinite Athlete.
Premier League toughened up rules after £40m Chelsea deal
As revealed by Football Insider, the Londoners are now in advanced talks to continue their partnership with Infinite Athlete into the 2024-25 season.
Borson believes the changes introduced in February were designed to stamp down on regulations after Chelsea's sponsorship deal.
"If you look at the dates of the rules and you look at the process that went on around it, it's very clear that these were rules designed against specific clubs," Borson told Football Insider.
"The second part of the February rules actually may have been rules to stamp down on Chelsea.
"So it's not a big surprise that Chelsea have shown their support for the City case.
"I think the February 2024 rule extensions were potentially introduced on the back of the Infinite Athlete sponsorship deal.
"They were introduced to strengthen some of the provisions around that."
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