Manchester City and Newcastle could face an investigation by the European Commission for alleged breaches of new rules over ‘state subsidies’.
The commission have confirmed to The Mail on Sunday that they have received complaints against the two clubs from multiple parties concerning new rules designed to prevent ‘state aid’ from distorting markets across the continent.
Whether this results in consequences remains to be seen but this is a significant development, not least politically. City have always maintained the club are a personal venture of Sheikh Mansour, who is a member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.
Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), who own 80 per cent of Newcastle and are chaired by the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, have always claimed to be an impartial, independent investment entity. The complaints are likely to focus on whether City may in fact be controlled by the state of the UAE and that Newcastle are a Saudi Arabian state tool.
A well-informed source with knowledge of the Premier League’s financial and legal frameworks told In The Money that City and Newcastle are being looked at by the European Commission, following complaints that state funding of the pair has been ‘seriously distorting’ EU markets, in this case in the football industry.
We asked the commission specifically if these two clubs were being looked at. A commission spokesperson said: ‘We can confirm receipt of submissions regarding football clubs, including UK clubs, which we are assessing.’ The spokesperson added that the complaints come under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), which became law in January and has been in force since June. ‘The Foreign Subsidies Regulation addresses distortions caused by financial contributions granted by non-EU governments to companies engaging in an economic activity in the EU internal market,’ said the spokesperson.
Despite Britain leaving the EU after the Brexit vote, Premier League clubs are still covered by the FSR.
The EC say: ‘In recent years, foreign subsidies appear to have distorted the EU’s internal market, including by providing their recipients with an unfair advantage to acquire companies or obtain public procurement contracts in the EU to the detriment of fair competition.’
It has not been confirmed who made the complaints about City and Newcastle. The MoS reported in June that City’s parent company, City Football Group, were the subject of a complaint in Belgium over alleged state funding of CFG club Lommel SK.
Local regulators said there was no case to answer so it was passed up to the EC to consider.
It’s likely there has been a complaint about City and Newcastle from La Liga now that the FSR is up and running. La Liga president Javier Tebas has long been a critic of what he calls ‘state-funded clubs’ including City.
La Liga declined to comment, although they confirmed recently they had made a formal complaint to the EC about state aid unfairly helping Paris Saint-Germain, who are in effect owned and funded by the government of Qatar.
City’s rise to supremacy in the Mansour era has unsettled numerous others as they have won seven Premier League titles, three FA Cups, six League Cups and the Champions League since 2008.
Newcastle have been among the top spenders in Europe since the PIF takeover in October 2021, spending some £400m on Kieran Trippier, Bruno Guimaraes, Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon and others.
We asked the commission specifically if these two clubs were being looked at. A commission spokesperson said: ‘We can confirm receipt of submissions regarding football clubs, including UK clubs, which we are assessing.’ The spokesperson added that the complaints come under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), which became law in January and has been in force since June. ‘The Foreign Subsidies Regulation addresses distortions caused by financial contributions granted by non-EU governments to companies engaging in an economic activity in the EU internal market,’ said the spokesperson.
Despite Britain leaving the EU after the Brexit vote, Premier League clubs are still covered by the FSR.
The EC say: ‘In recent years, foreign subsidies appear to have distorted the EU’s internal market, including by providing their recipients with an unfair advantage to acquire companies or obtain public procurement contracts in the EU to the detriment of fair competition.’
It has not been confirmed who made the complaints about City and Newcastle. The MoS reported in June that City’s parent company, City Football Group, were the subject of a complaint in Belgium over alleged state funding of CFG club Lommel SK.
Local regulators said there was no case to answer so it was passed up to the EC to consider.
It’s likely there has been a complaint about City and Newcastle from La Liga now that the FSR is up and running. La Liga president Javier Tebas has long been a critic of what he calls ‘state-funded clubs’ including City.
La Liga declined to comment, although they confirmed recently they had made a formal complaint to the EC about state aid unfairly helping Paris Saint-Germain, who are in effect owned and funded by the government of Qatar.
City’s rise to supremacy in the Mansour era has unsettled numerous others as they have won seven Premier League titles, three FA Cups, six League Cups and the Champions League since 2008.
Newcastle have been among the top spenders in Europe since the PIF takeover in October 2021, spending some £400m on Kieran Trippier, Bruno Guimaraes, Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon and others.