Man City face FURTHER legal action after complaint by La Liga

Suraj Radia

• 27 Feb 2025 18:45 GMT
• 3 min read

La Liga president Javier Tebas has accused Manchester City of breaching European Union Competition Law and that a formal complaint has been filed against the Premier League giants.

Tebas has claimed that City have tried to circumvent financial fair play rules by hiding their costs in affiliated companies, with the Spanish chief likening the situation to the 2001 Enron accounting fraud scandal.

FABRIZIO ROMANO TRANSFER UPDATE: Man Utd star’s 'different direction' as Real Madrid OBSESSION revealed

Speaking to journalists at The Financial Times’ Business of Football summit on Thursday, Tebas said that La Liga had filed a complaint with the European Commission in July 2023, with the situation ‘worrying’ him more than City’s dispute over associated party transaction (APT) rules.

“What worries me is not the APTs, what worries me is the companies outside the City Football Group (Manchester City’s parent company) where the City expenses are sent,” Tebas said.

“They have a scouting company, a marketing company. That’s where they have very high expenses. They invoice City for less money. City have costs that are less than if they didn’t have this circle of companies.

“All they do is they think about how they can avoid the rules and regulations. We have reported this to the European Union with facts and figures.”

Tebas: Football will be in hands of ‘the state’ if rules are not ‘controlled’

The complaint is alleged to have been made a week after the commission introduced a rule banning companies operating within the EU from receiving foreign subsidies that distort the internal market.

The news comes weeks after the Premier League’s APT rules were deemed ‘void and unenforceable’ by an independent tribunal following a lawsuit instigated by City.

READ MORE: Man City’s 10 most expensive transfers of all time

“Taking into account their relationship with the sovereign fund of Abu Dhabi, we asked for these things to be checked,” Tebas added.

“It’s really important that all clubs are subject to transparency rules and governance and real competition in the financial and sporting side of their business. If it’s not controlled — and we do control — it means football ends up in the hands of states.”

City are currently in the midst of a battle with the Premier League over more than 115 charges relating to financial breaches, however this issue is believed to be independent to their ongoing case, in which a ruling is expected to be made in the coming weeks.

A response has not yet been given by City over Tebas’ claims.