The siege on Manchester City continues: they present a bill to ban state clubs from the Premier

Leaving the delicate sporting situation aside, with a series of setbacks that complicate Manchester City in both the English league and the Champions League, the ‘skyblue’ club has not stopped receiving bad news lately. If a few days ago it was that the Premier clubs opposed their position and agreed to modify the sponsorship rules to avoid financial injections disguised as sponsorships, common in clubs in the hands of sheikhs or billionaires, now it is a bill which directly threatens its existence, as it is currently articulated, in England.

As it progressedThe Times‘, the Labor politician Lord Bassam has made a bill to change the reform of English football and add to it the ban on state clubs in the Premier League. A measure that deepens the siege of entities such as Manchester City or Newcastle United, and that if approved could end up forcing them to change owners.

For the British newspaper, the probability of the proposal going ahead is slim, as it would have to obtain the support of the majority of deputies in the House of Lords as well as the approval of the British Government itself, but it highlights that there are several clubs in the same Premier those who have insisted that this rule be introduced.

“No state club should receive an operating license and any affected club must comply with the reforms of the new law,” explains Lord Bassam about his proposed law.

The aforementioned reform of English football, whose genesis lies in the spring of 2021 with the creation of the European Super League, is already in the process of being approved by Parliament. One of its points refers to the creation of an independent regulator to financially supervise the club owners, among other things, and to issue licenses to them to be able to participate in competitions. Thus, if the clubs do not comply with the rules they would not obtain the license to compete.

I would therefore support this proposal to the initiative agreed last week, when it was decided to move forward with changing the sponsorship rules with the aim of “guaranteeing that clubs cannot benefit from commercial agreements or cost reductions that do not conform to a value fair market by virtue of the relationships with the associated parties. The Premier argued that “these rules were introduced to provide a solid mechanism to safeguard the financial stability, integrity and competitive balance of the league».

From the implementation of these new rules, any income will have to be presented as a transaction between associated parties, so it will be subject to an evaluation to see if its value really adjusts to the market. And if the Premier finds that it is not, the club will be forced to cancel or modify it and pay any shortfall in interest.

In Arab and Saudi hands

Manchester City is in the hands of United Arab Emirates since 2008, when it began to grow exponentially to go from a club that was around the middle or lower part of the table to a leading club in England and Europe with eight leagues and a Champions League, among other titles, in their showcases.

For your part Newcastle United belongs to the Saudi Arabian Investment Fund since the end of 2021. And since then it has gone from fighting to avoid relegation to qualifying in 2023 for the top continental competition and playing in a League Cup final that same year.