So what, exactly, does that mean?
Is peace deal linked with City’s ‘115 charges’?
No, two separate legal sagas have been playing out behind the scenes between City and the Premier League in recent years.
APTs, originally introduced in December 2021, are designed to limit how much companies associated with clubs can feed money to them. Abu Dhabi-backed City challenged the legality of those rules but have now settled with the league.
Separately, the “115 charges” case, which actually adds up to 130 different allegations against the club, involves City being accused of breaching a series of financial rules over a nine-year period as well as allegations of failing to cooperate with Premier League investigations up to 2021. A hearing by an independent commission concluded in December after almost three months of legal argument at London’s International Dispute Resolution Centre.
What effect could this have on the 130 cases?
Nothing in theory, although after City previously declared the APT rules “void”, an acceptance that the regulations are now here to stay could affect potential future appeals.
City’s attempts to undermine the league’s role as a regulator in the APT dispute was previously perceived to be a part of the club’s strategy to fight the separate spending breach charges. “The reason Lord Pannick (the leading KC representing City) and assembled montage of Man City lawyers are claiming a victory to this is because they will think it is helpful to their wider claim that the tribunal have recognised that the Premier League is in a dominant market position in respect of its ability to exercise control and ultimately dominance over its member clubs,” Marc Shrimpling, a partner in UK competition and trade practice at Osborne Clarke, had previously told Telegraph Sport.
When is a verdict on the 130 charges expected?
Various figures in football are hopeful of a verdict in the coming weeks. However, the three-person panel ruling over the evidence refused to be drawn on a timeline when contacted by Telegraph Sport recently and initial hopes of a conclusion before the end of last season did not materialise.
What does the APT settlement mean for other clubs?
There will be a nervousness around City’s spending power in the wake of a new Etihad sponsorship deal, but the concession that the APT rules are valid is being viewed positively by rivals.
One key argument centred on the assessment of shareholder loans for fair-market value incorporated into the rules following City’s partial arbitration win last year. Everton, Brighton and Hove Albion and Arsenal are among clubs who have previously relied on such arrangements. In November, the league had decided that the rules should not apply retrospectively at the time. That was challenged by City, but the settlement means fair market assessment will remain in place as the rule only applies to ongoing and future loans. The rules also allowed a grace period for shareholders to convert such loans to equity.