The price of justice: City’s EPL showdown puts focus on mounting legal costs
IMAGO | The Manchester City squad before a Premier League match against Fulham at Craven Cottage on May 11th 2024
As Man City and the EPL hold arbitration rules this week and with a hearing due on the 115 charges later this year, both sides are facing mounting legal bills.
With the EPL’s “administrative expenses” up 60 per cent in two years and City’s “external costs” up by nearly the same in three years, the trend points towards legal bills totalling tens of millions.
Why it matters: An attritional legal war waged by City will see at least seven years pass between the original allegations being published in a German newspaper and sporting justice being dispensed.
The perspective: A Man City lawyer famously said that its chairman Khaldoon Mubarak “Would rather spend 30 million on the 50 best lawyers in the world” than pay a fine. Is such a mantra being born out?
10 June 2024 - 2:49 PM
Last Tuesday, The Times broke news of Manchester City’s attempts to end the Premier League’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules, which they claim are unlawful, and seek damages from the Premier League.
The story, supported by extensive documentation, revealed how City and the EPL will this week enter a two-week private arbitration hearing. If the rules are overturned it could have huge implications for h
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