Premier League clubs have moved to block Newcastle United from making lucrative sponsorship deals in an emergency meeting on Monday.
The clubs have passed a temporary amendment banning commercial opportunities involving pre-existing business relationships, known as related party transactions.
These deals cannot now be made for the next three weeks, with clubs intent on passing more lasting measures in the meantime through the creation of a working party.
Newcastle believe that the rule is anti-competitive, backed up by their own legal advice, and could be unlawful.
This includes every club in the league except for Manchester City. They are believed to have abstained based on strong legal advice that the vote was unlawful and would see the league acting as a cartel. The Abu Dhabi owned club have been accused of benefitting from related party transactions in the past.
The Athletic understands that a leading director outside of the big six clubs gave an impassioned speech, in which he outlined that these restrictions had been considered for years, and if the clubs truly believed in the regulation, they needed to push it through.
Several clubs were also shocked that managing director Lee Charnley represented Newcastle at the meeting rather than new director and minority stakeholder Amanda Staveley.
He is not associated with the new Newcastle leadership, and so having him as the sole club representative while issuing legal advice was not received warmly.
As The Athletic’s David Ornstein revealed, the Premier League clubs held an extraordinary meeting last week, where league officials tried to explain the decision to sanction a deal that many of its members vehemently oppose for multiple reasons.
Tonight’s vote is one product of that dissatisfaction.
Go Deeper below.
(Photo: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
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