Sir Jim Ratcliffe fears the Premier League is being over-regulated. Photo: Getty Images/Robin Jones
Manchester United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe appears to have tentatively backed Manchester City's unprecedented legal action against the Premier League and warned the competition faces «ruin» if regulation goes so far too far.
City are fighting the league's «related party transactions» (APT) rules in a controversial landmark case that could have far-reaching consequences for England's top flight and undermine 115 charges brought by the league against champions.
Two week story. The private arbitration hearings began on June 10, with City claiming they were victims of the «tyranny of the majority» and were victims of «discrimination.»
The APT rules are designed to ensure commercial transactions involving the club's properties. are made at fair market value.
City's detractors fear that the Premier League's defeat in this case could ultimately lead to the end of any meaningful financial control in the competition and significantly weaken the case of financial impropriety against the club. which will be reviewed later this year.
But Ratcliffe, who took over day-to-day management of United in February after taking a 27.7% stake in the club, sympathizes with City's rivals and understands why they are challenging APT league rules.
< p> » I can understand why they dispute it,” the Ineos billionaire told Bloomberg. «You can understand that they are saying they want an open market, a free market.»
Ratcliffe believes the Premier League needs to be careful not to get caught up in «endless legal wrangling with a lot of clubs» and has expressed concern that over-regulation could lead to the destruction of Europe's richest domestic league. Everton and Nottingham Forest have been docked points for breaching the league's profit and sustainability rules (PSR).
«The Premier League is probably the most successful sports league in the world, and certainly the most successful football league in the world. And we have a saying in the north of England: 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it,'» Ratcliffe said.
“If you start intervening too much, introducing too much regulation, then you end up with a Manchester City problem, you end up with an Everton problem, you end up with a Nottingham Forest problem — and so on and so forth.
“If you're not careful, the Premier League will end up spending more time in court than thinking about what's good for the league. We have the best league in the world, for God's sake, don't destroy this league.»
Manchester City have won six of the last seven Premier League titles and eight of the last 13. Photo: Getty Images/Alex Livesey
United have voted to tighten the APT rules currently challenging City, but like their city rivals and Aston Villa, the Old Trafford club have voted against new 'shut-down' proposals designed to impose a cap on the amount that clubs can spend on wages. , transfers and agent fees.
«[Anchoring] will hamper the Premier League's top clubs,» Ratcliffe said. “And the last thing you want is for the best clubs in the Premier League to not be able to compete with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, PSG — that’s absurd. And if that happens, it will no longer be the best league in the world.”
Ratcliffe said there had been a “drift towards complexity” in the Premier League towards over-regulation since the former executive left. chairman Richard Scudamore in 2018. There are plans to trial the shadow anchor feature in the Premier League next season. «If you have a government regulator, eventually they will regulate and it won't be good,» he said.
Ratcliffe also proposed plans for a 32-team FIFA Club World Cup. The following summer it was a step too far amid concerns that players were being forced out of the game by a busy schedule. «You can't just keep taking more from players,» he said.
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