Newcastle takeover lawyer's plea to Premier League after vote leak as Man City case takes twist

The Premier League are doing their reputation 'no good' by 'clinging on to secrecy' amid a legal battle that could have huge consequences for Newcastle United

That is according to Nick De Marco, the KC who previously acted for Newcastle, after Manchester City challenged the validity of the top-flight's associated party transaction (APT) regulations during an arbitration hearing back in June. These rules ensure all commercial deals with companies linked to a club's owners are independently assessed to establish they are of fair market value.

Manchester City have argued that 18 rival clubs only voted in these regulations to 'safeguard their own commercial advantages' following Newcastle's takeover nearly three years ago. The champions have also claimed that there has been 'discrimination against Gulf ownership' and suggested the rules were 'deliberately intended to stifle commercial freedoms of particular clubs in particular circumstances and, thus, to restrict economic competition'.

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An outcome from the two-week hearing, which took place in private, had been expected potentially this month but it was not clear when the result would be made public. The Premier League's own rulebook states that where an award contains decisions on points of law or interpretation that the chair of the judicial panel 'considers to be of wider application or use to the board and clubs, with the agreement of the parties to the arbitration, they may produce and circulate to the board (for distribution to clubs) an anonymised summary of the award'.

It has emerged that a Premier League vote on an amendment related to restricting access to a databank used for the submission of commercial contracts was removed from the agenda of a shareholders' meeting late on Wednesday night, and reports suggested Manchester City's legal team may have had some form of success as there would be little point in top-flight clubs voting on amendments to rules that may be subject to change. Regardless, De Marco has called on the Premier League to be transparent once the result of the case is known.

"Everyone is now speculating about the alleged outcome of the MCFC v PL Rule X arbitration, and who might have won what," he wrote. "But nobody can know what the result is (if indeed there has been one) or how it was reached, because the PL cling on to absolute secrecy.

"It does their reputation no good at all, at a time the govt. is considering the powers of a new independent football regulator, to keep such important matters of football regulation that affect the whole competition secret. If there is a decision of the very learned panel, it should now be published."