Manchester City appear to have claimed a significant victory over the Premier League regarding their third party transaction rules.

The Premier League introduced the rules following Newcastle’s takeover, which was facilitated by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.

Man City are at war with the Premier League over a number of issuesGetty

The rules were installed to protect competitive integrity by stopping clubs from artificially inflating commercial deals associated with their owners.

That means that sponsorships must be independently assessed and would only be approved if they are deemed to be of ‘fair market value’.

City had argued the rules discriminated against their ownership by the Abu Dhabi United Group, an investment company for the royal family of Abu Dhabi.

This came after they issued a 165-page claim against the Premier League with a two-week hearing taking place in June.

However, a vote on amending those rules was dropped from a meeting between Premier League club shareholders on Thursday, indicating that City’s legal challenge was successful.

Man City had been seeking financial damages for losses incurred as a result of the ‘unlawfulness of the [fair market value] rules’.

They claimed that the ruled were ‘deliberately intended to stifle commercial freedoms of particular clubs in particular circumstances and thus to restrict economic competition’.

The case is unrelated to the 115 charges of alleged rule breaks facing the Premier League champions.

As such, Man City have refused to comment on whether this means that they have won their legal case.

More to follow…