Manchester City are attempting to sue the Premier League over their spending rules and now Aston Villa could do the same, with co-owner Nassef Sawiris labelling them ‘anti-competitive’
Aston Villa co-owner Nassef Sawiris has revealed that he’s contemplated taking legal action against the Premier League like Manchester City.
While they face 115 financial charges from Premier League chiefs, reigning champions City filed a 165-page legal document last week claiming they’re the victims of ‘discrimination’, arguing that regulations which were approved by their top-flight rivals were aimed at preventing them from enjoying further success, labelling it the ‘tyranny of the majority’.
Villa have also thought about lodging an official complaing, as Sawiris – who bought the club alongside American businessman Wes Edens in 2018 – has slammed ‘anti-competitive’ spending rules which he believes are blocking Villa from reaching the next level.
Calling for reform in an interview with the Financial Times, Egpyt’s richest man bemoaned: “Some of the rules have actually resulted in cementing the status quo more than creating upward mobility and fluidity in the sport.
“The rules do not make sense and are not good for football. Managing a sports team has become more like being a treasurer or a bean counter rather than looking at what your team needs. It’s more about creating paper profits, not real profits. It becomes a financial game, not a sporting game.”
In addition, Sawiris described the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules – which Everton and Nottingham Forest have breached in recent years resulting in points deductions – as ‘opaque and… seemingly arbitrary’.
Villa are reportedly one of three Premier League clubs who harbour sympathy towards City alongside Chelsea and Newcastle, who’ve both had a change of ownership in the past three years. Unai Emery’s Villa qualified for the Champions League in the season just gone by finishing fourth, although they could have to sell a number of key players in order to stay in line with PSR.
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Midfield stalwart Douglas Luiz is in talks to join Juventus in a deal which would see the Italian giants pay £16.9million in cash while sending Weston McKennie and Samuel Iling-Junior the other way. The Daily Mail add that right-back Matty Cash is being offered to clubs around Europe, including AC Milan.
Newcastle are also facing a financial squeeze, with star players Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak linked with big-money moves away. Meanwhile, Chelsea are being tipped to sell academy graduates Conor Gallagher and Levi Colwill, who’d go down as ‘pure profit’ if they were to be sold.
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