Man City scandal: Keith Wyness reacts as new update emerges
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness has revealed the Premier League has made two major changes to the associated party transaction (APT) rules following its recent legal battle with Manchester City.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – insisted the latest amendments have opened up the possibility for top-flight sides to land bigger sponsorship deals.
Man City took legal action against the Premier League regarding the APT rules at an arbitration hearing in June, with two aspects of the regulations deemed unlawful when the panel published its findings in October.
The Premier League issued proposed amendments early last month that were approved by the top-flight clubs at a meeting in London on 22 November.
The governing body has now published its updated handbook for the 2024-25 season, which includes the changes to the APT rules.
Man City managed to roll back Premier League rules
Wyness believes the Premier League has come to a fair resolution and all the owners should be happy with the situation.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “Man City did manage to roll back the associated party transactions rules in the last round of legal ramblings between the Premier League and Man City.
“There were two real major changes. One was the shareholder loans, which were often given at no interest or low interest, now had to be done at market rates, which I think is fair enough. I think everyone agrees that’s probably a fair assumption.
“They were good at getting the Premier League rules rolled back on how these loans or sponsorships are actually judged.
“One key phrase that was taken out of the whole regulation was ‘in normal market conditions’.
“That meant you wouldn’t be able to say what would be a fair value in the UK is necessarily a fair value in the Middle East because having a sponsorship of a Premier League club may have a much bigger impact in the Middle East than it would necessarily do in the UK.
“It’s taking into account the different market conditions and the different impact it makes in different parts of the world, which is fair enough.
“In reality, it does open up much bigger values for sponsorships and I think that’s a good thing.
“I think it’s basically said ‘Go for it, but don’t just take the mickey. Don’t go and give us ridiculous numbers for these sponsorships. As long as you’re in the ballpark, we’re not really going to fight it’.
“I think that’s a fair resolution in the end and all the owners should be happy enough with that sort of situation.”
In other news, Man City accelerate plan to sign Bruno Guimaraes.
For more Man City and exclusive news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.