Rival clubs seek compensation from City
Today at 07:49 AM
Four of Manchester City's main rivals have lodged legal notices reserving the right to seek compensation if the club are found guilty of serious charges among the 115 alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules.
Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur
have taken the step of formally registering possible compensation claims via
arbitration before a potential statute of limitations deadline last week,
sources have told The Times. The clubs involved all declined to comment.
The charges against City are still being heard by
an independent regulatory commission, with the outcome not expected until the
new year. The commission can make an order for compensation to be paid but it
is understood that, because of laws around time limits to register such claims,
there was concern among the clubs that it would be too late to wait until
the case had been resolved.
Chelsea are not believed to have lodged a legal notice
relating to compensation. They have their own Premier League investigation to
contend with after they self-reported alleged irregular payments during the
Roman Abramovich era. That could also lead to compensation claims from rivals
but there is no looming deadline for the case.
The compensation notices were served after the four clubs
were advised by lawyers there was a potential six-year statute of limitations
period dating from November 5, 2018, when the German website Der Spiegel first
published the Football Leaks documents.
If the charges against City are proven, clubs could claim
for loss of income for missing out on the league title, qualification for the
Champions League or other European competitions over the course of several
seasons, which could total hundreds of millions of pounds.
Clubs cannot sue each other through the courts under Premier
League rules but they can do so through arbitration under Rule X. Five clubs
applied for compensation when Everton were sanctioned for breaching
Profitability and Sustainability Rules last season — Leeds United, Leicester
City, Nottingham Forest, Burnley and Southampton — but those claims have since
been withdrawn or are unresolved.
In the City case, lawyers are understood to have advised
clubs that if they waited until the outcome of the hearing into the 115 alleged
rule breaches then there was a risk any compensation claim could be deemed to
be out of time.
The Foreign Office is understood to be concerned about the
implications of the City case for Britain's relations with Abu Dhabi and is
being kept informed of developments.
Don't underestimate the geopolitical dimension. This is not just about big sums of money,
