At the Premier League convention in London on Friday, teams voted to approve a "series of amendments", mainly new rules on related-party transactions. The new rules mainly cover sponsorship contracts involving related parties, as well as transfers between clubs with co-owners, and require that these transactions must meet "fair market value". In other words, it is necessary to prevent such sponsorship contracts from being overvalued, as well as related transfers** being sold at too low prices or selling at too high prices. At present, the specific provisions of the new regulations have not been disclosed.
The result of the vote is believed to be 12 votes in favour, 6 against and 2 abstentions, which is said to be the most thrilling vote in the history of the Premier League and will be in line with a 3 majority of valid votes. This situation is seen as a sign of the great division between the Premier League princes and the destruction of internal unity.
It is widely believed that restrictions on related-party transactions will have the greatest impact on Manchester City and Newcastle United, both of which are backed by Middle Eastern tycoons. At the same time, Chelsea management, as well as potential new shareholders of Manchester United and Everton, all own more than one club and may be affected by restrictions on related party transfer deals.
At present, one club, believed to be Manchester City, has told the Premier League that it is considering initiating arbitration, arguing that the new rules violate competition law. The Premier League insists that the new rules are legitimate. The Premier League has informed the clubs of the threat, but has not named them, and City themselves have declined to comment.
In December 2021, after the Premier League was acquired by Saudi capital in Newcastle, it immediately passed relevant temporary regulations, requiring sponsorship contracts of more than 1 million pounds to be approved by the Premier League to verify whether it is a premium related party transaction. Now that formal amendments to the constitution have been adopted. The Premier League declared: "Clubs have passed a series of amendments to further enhance the efficiency and accuracy of the system. ”
In November last year, the Premier League tried to make temporary changes to the law halfway through the season to restrict related party transfers in the January winter window, but the vote was not passed at the time, with Burnley, Chelsea, Everton, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Manchester City, Sheffield United and Wolves voting against it.
Based on whether the owners of each team still hold shares in other clubs, the affiliated clubs of the Premier League princes are as follows:
Arsenal:Colorado Rapids (USA).
Aston Villa:Victoria Guimarães (Portugal).
Bournemouth:Lorient (France), Auckland (New Zealand).
Brighton:St Gilles United (Belgium).
Chelsea:Strasbourg (France).
Crystal Palace:Botafogo (Brazil), Lyon (France), Molenbeek (Belgium), Alcocón (Spain), ADO The Hague (Netherlands), Augsburg (Germany), Real Salt Lake City (USA), Beveren (Belgium).
Manchester City:Bahia (Brazil), Girona (Spain), Lommel (Belgium), Melbourne City (Australia), Montevideo City (Uruguay), Mumbai City (India), New York City (USA), Palermo (Italy), Sichuan Jiuniu (China), Troyes (France), Yokohama Mariner (Japan).
Newcastle United:Jeddah Nationals, Jeddah United, Riyadh Crescent, Riyadh Victory (all Saudi).
Nottingham Forest:Olympiacos (Greece).
Sheffield United:Al-Hilal United (UAE), Bershoult (Belgium), Kerala United (India), Chateauroux (France).
West Ham United:Sparta Prague (Czech Republic).