Manchester City chief warns of imminent change in Premier League standard through league regulations

Khaldoon Al Mubarak – chairman of Manchester City – has warned supporters and the wider football community of an imminent change in standards across the Premier League.

Comments from the Manchester City official come just days after reports leaked the details of fresh legal action from the Premier League champions on the division itself, taking on the league’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules and attempting to claim damages in the process.

Unfortunately for those hoping that Al Mubarak’s comments were a direct reaction to the report in The Times newspaper, Manchester City confirmed that the interview actually took place on the first day of June in Abu Dhabi, following the club’s latest round of domestic success.

Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City squad became the first side in English football history to win the top-flight in four consecutive seasons, batting away competition from Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal for the second successive campaign.

However, despite the ongoing success and arguably dominance from Manchester City in the Premier League, there is ill-feeling from within the football club over the division’s financial rules, and particularly those concerning sponsorship with connections to club owners.

Speaking openly on the subject of Premier League regulations, and what is likely to come as a direct result, Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has warned of a drop in standards should the division continue in the same trend as it has done in recent years.

“I think the Premier League got to where it is today by being the most competitive league, so I hope there’s a bit more sensibility in regulating,” Al Mubarak told ManCity.com in his traditional end-of-season interview.

“Always a balanced approach is good from all the leagues, be it in England or the rest of Europe. I think you won’t see the same level as you’ve seen in the past years because of the levels of the regulations that have come into place over the last 12 months.”

Al Mubarak continued, “There’s also been a lot of restrictions now put in place on swaps and loans, so even that is now much more restricted. So I think the level of maneuverability that was in place before, that allowed teams to do what they were able to do in the past is much more restricted this year, and that’s going to be reflected I believe this summer.”

The independent hearing between Manchester City and the Premier League is expected to begin from Monday 10 June and could last two weeks, while there is already conflicting opinions from within the division as to who to side with in the legal battle.

Reports in some quarters of the media have already indicated that the likes of Newcastle United, Chelsea, and Everton could side with the Premier League champions in the battle against the Premier League, especially with the former having been directly impacted by the APT rules following the takeover from Saudi Arabia.