The Premier League could punish clubs under new rules if they cannot show that sponsorship or transfer deals from related companies are a fair value.
The Premier League has published new rules that prevent club owners from inflating 'associated-party' deals with companies or clubs they also own. These changes caused a huge split among clubs when they were narrowly approved in February 2024.
The new regulations are meant to prevent situations like the state-owned Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), which owns Newcastle, from pumping money into the club through the many rich companies they control. The rules also stop Newcastle from selling players for inflated fees to the four clubs the PIF owns in the Saudi league.
Clubs could be accused of breaking the rules unless they «use all reasonable care» to show deals are at market value. An independent commission would decide how serious an offence is and what the punishment should be.
Clubs that are connected to state ownership, like Newcastle (Saudi Arabia) and Manchester City (United Arab Emirates), or those that use multi-club ownership models, were opposed to the new rules. Chelsea owner Todd Boehly and his consortium also hold a majority share in French club Strasbourg, and the new rules would theoretically make transfers between those two clubs more onerous.
Officials at Newcastle believe their growth is being slowed by the established order of clubs, reports the Mirror. In recent times, Newcastle's deals have been cautious, including showing that selling Allan Saint-Maximin to Saudi club Al-Ahli for £25million in the summer was «fair value.» The burden of proof falls on clubs to provide evidence of fair value.
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