Man City fans poke fun at ‘cartel’ rivals with stunt outside Premier League HQ

City’s Official Supporters Club said that this was ‘a message to the league’ about their ongoing legal case

Manchester City supporters took aim at their civil-war enemies with a large LED screen stunt outside Premier League headquarters, as clubs met to discuss the outcome of the landmark arbitration.
City’s Official Supporters Club (OSC) appeared to have claimed some involvement in the protest, which alleged Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United were leading a “cartel”.
Alongside the rival clubs’ badges, the LED protest parked up carried the headline “Richard’s Masters” – a reference to Richard Masters, the league’s chief executive.
Posting pictures of the screen outside the league’s base in Paddington, west London, the OSC wrote on X that it was “a message” to the league “from those of us outside the cartel”.
The league, meanwhile, will now begin preparing a consultation paper to finally resolve the dispute over associated-party transaction rules after rival clubs maintained opposing views during an hour-long meeting.
City’s general counsel Simon Cliff addressed the champions’ ongoing concerns as competition administrators insisted a solution on new shareholder-loan regulations remains achievable.
It was the first time the clubs had met since they learnt the outcome of City’s 20 claims that the league’s APT rules were “discriminatory”.
The mood in league boardrooms had been tense since Cliff emailed the other 19 clubs to urge against a “knee-jerk reaction” that “would be likely to lead to further legal proceedings with further legal costs”.
During the emergency meeting, opposing views were exchanged before the Premier League explained it is ready to move with clubs towards resolving the dispute.
In the fortnight since the tribunal findings were published, several of the other clubs have shared extensive levels of detail around their shareholder-loan agreements with the competition.
Inevitably, there is significant variation in terms attached to these deals, which has played some part in complicating preparations to thrash out a new arrangement.
Some clubs, such as Arsenal – who previously borrowed more than £200 million – are already scrutinised under Uefa rules. However, other heavy owner borrowers – such as Everton – could be more significantly affected by the integration of arrangements in the league’s APT rules.
Masters wrote to clubs 11 days ago saying they would be taking “the necessary time to develop our proposals and the associated draft rule amendments”.