Football's Financial Arms Race Just Went Nuclear

Money talks in football. An influx of rich owners helped turn England’s Premier League into the world’s most lucrative national soccer competition. Chelsea FC won the title for the first time in 50 years in 2005 after its takeover by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Saudi Arabia’s 2021 purchase of Newcastle United FC propelled it back into Europe’s elite Champions League after a two-decade absence. But the urge to splurge might yet tear the game apart.

Manchester City, controlled by Abu Dhabi United Group, is challenging the legality of the Premier League’s so-called Associated Party Transaction, or APT, regulations that are designed to prevent teams from signing inflated sponsorship deals with companies linked to their owners. The club argues the rules are anti-competitive and that the league’s voting system produces a “tyranny of the majority,” according to a 165-page document cited by the Times. A two-week arbitration hearing is scheduled to start Monday. It’s an unprecedented action: Victory for Manchester City could throw the Premier League’s governance into disarray.