Man City face uphill battle in new Premier League case – Stefan Borson
Manchester City would have found it difficult to win their argument over the objectivity of Nielsen Sports in their recent legal battle against the Premier League.
That is the view of former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider the Premier League has likely argued there is no conflict of interest for Nielsen despite the company helping the governing body police it’s associated party transaction (APT) rules since 2021.
Man City have pursued legal action against the Premier League regarding the APT rules currently in place, with the club claiming the regulations are “unlawful”.
If the rules weren’t in place, clubs could agree sponsorship deals as high as they wanted with no challenge, increasing the amount they could spend under the profit and sustainability rules (PSR).
Reports have revealed Man City claimed in their recent hearing the Premier League has treated them unfairly in assessing their commercial income by relying on analysis provided by Nielsen.
Man City need evidence to prove case against Premier League
But Borson has suggested Pep Guardiola’s side could find it a difficult argument to win without any evidence proving the New York-based firm has not been objective.
“I suspect it’s quite a tricky point to win because there are not many marketing and sponsorship agencies of the scale of Nielsen out there,” Borson told Football Insider.
“Therefore, the Premier League could legitimately say ‘We are using one of the leading agencies, there is no reason to think they are not objective’.
“To presume there is a conflict because they have acted for the Premier League for a couple of years seems to me to be a difficult argument to win without evidence they are not being objective.
“The rules are slightly different with UEFA in that you get to choose your agency to an extent in terms of the fair value.
“They are not exactly the same, but Nielsen are one of the leading consultants in the world, so I think it’s a difficult argument to win.
“The argument has already been run now after the case finished about three weeks ago.”
In other news, Man City will accept £20million striker offer as Premier League club swoop.
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