Manchester City may need to find more support from other Premier League clubs if they are to succeed in their efforts to block the implementation of revised associated party transaction (APT) rules at the next meeting of English top-flight clubs.
A tribunal found in October that some of the existing APT rules are unlawful. The rules exist to try and prevent club owners from pumping inflated sponsorship deals into club coffers via other businesses they are also involved in.
That would, in itself, be a means of side-stepping financial fair play regulations: there are limits on how much money a club's owners can put into a club to cover debts, but putting money in as sponsorship means that money is recognised as revenue rather than owner investment. While that's fine in principle, APT rules say that such sponsorship money must be assessed to ensure it reflects 'fair market value'.
Manchester City at war with the Premier League?
Manchester City took the Premier League to a tribunal in June after the latest amendment to APT rules, and a vote on proposed further amendments that was originally set for September was dropped at late notice after it became apparent that City had succeeded in that challenge.
The Premier League are nonetheless keen to continue with plans to amend the rules again to tighten them up. That requires a majority of clubs to vote in favour of their plans.
The Times report that 'the bulk of clubs are very much on the side of the Premier League in this dispute', and that as it stands, City would not have enough support to prevent the required two-thirds majority of 14 clubs from voting in favour of it.
Aston Villa are expected to vote against it, and are said to have written to the other 19 Premier League clubs suggesting the vote should be pushed back until the next quarterly meeting to see how the tribunal verdict announced in October might shake out further in the meantime.
Chelsea, Leicester City, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest are also said to be likely allies to City - but Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton are reported to have switched sides and are now backing the Premier League's proposal, despite having voted against it last year.
That straw poll would put the vote at 14-6 in the Premier League's favour, leaving City and their allies in need of recruiting one more vote to their side to knock the plans back.
The current proposal introduces changes in three specific areas, but City maintain that the amendments would still not be lawful and want the vote to be delayed until the full tribunal findings have been published.
The Premier League meeting is set to be held on Friday November 22.
