Richard Masters has insisted that a damning ruling on the sponsorship rules introduced following Newcastle United’s takeover will ‘not impact the operation’ of the new regulations.
The Premier League had previously claimed the tribunal had only identified ‘a small number of discrete elements of the rules’ which did not comply with competition and public law requirements after Manchester City challenged the validity of the top-flight’s association party transaction regulations (APTs). Those at the top even suggested these elements could be ‘quickly and effectively remedied by the league and clubs’.
However, a tribunal has since found the original rules, as a whole, were ‘void and unenforceable’. Masters acknowledged that fact on Friday evening in an email sent to Newcastle and member clubs, but the Premier League’s chief executive attempted to play down the significance of the verdict as he reiterated the ‘new rules were voted into force’ last November.
“The previous APT rules are no longer in place…the league has previously told clubs that this decision was about the legal status of previous APT rules and would not impact the operation of new rules,” he wrote.
Those words were echoed in a statement made by the Premier League, who stressed clubs remain required to ‘comply with all aspects of the system’, and the top-flight are now ‘pressing for an expeditious resolution of this matter’. The same tribunal panel will ultimately decide whether the amendments made in November are in fact lawful after Manchester City launched a fresh legal challenge against the updated rules.
Newcastle joined Manchester City, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest in standing against the APT changes back in November, but the other 16 clubs voted them through.
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