Aston Villa and Wolves to have say on Premier League financial rules after Manchester City challenge

Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers will join their Premier League colleagues to cast their votes on proposed changes to the financial regulations that have been contested by Manchester City.

The reigning champions had initiated an arbitration process, challenging the league's associated party transaction (APT) rules based on competition law.

The arbitral panel declared that the rules, aimed at ensuring transactions between clubs and entities related to their owners reflect fair market value (FMV), were unlawful as they omitted shareholder loans.

Manchester City argued this rendered all APT rules null and void, further criticising the Premier League for "misleading" the other 19 clubs with its initial reading of the panel's decision.

However, instead of being annulled, these rules are to be revised during a Premier League club shareholders’ meeting set for central London on November 22, after consultations among the league and its clubs since the panel's verdict on October 7. It is understood that while the updated rules will encompass shareholder loans, FMV assessments won't be applied retroactively to pre-existing loans.

Clubs have also been requested to disclose information regarding any shareholder loans from the past three years, which covers a duration before and after the APT regulations were first implemented in December 2021. For FMV assessment purposes, such evaluations might consider the interest rate a loan would attract on the open market, differing from one club to another based on creditworthiness.

Additional changes to the regulations will allow clubs earlier access to a databank utilised by the Premier League in the FMV decision-making process, and will reverse alterations to the APT rules implemented in February.