Premier League make Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham meeting vote decision amid Man City case wait

Premier League heavyweights are gearing up for a crucial summit on Tuesday as they weigh up potential changes to the division's financial rules in the wake of a legal spat prompted by Manchester City. The key talking point will be how shareholder loans factor into the league's associated party transaction (APT) regulations, after a ruling by an arbitration panel on October 7 found that existing practices breached competition law.

This meeting acts as the first congregation of clubs since the decision became public, with City branding the league's response to the verdict as "misleading" and interpreting it as invalidating all APT rules. Moreover, the reigning champions claimed that the judgement discredited the whole spectrum of APT regulations.

While the Premier League has yet to clarify the broader implications of the panel's decision fully, they are moving forward to amend the elements of the rules deemed unlawful. These APT guidelines exist to ensure that business deals between clubs and their owners' related entities are at genuine market rates, avoiding any boosted income through unfair means.

Ahead of the meeting, clubs were asked to provide the league with details about their current mix of shareholder loans versus loans converted into equity, dating back over the past three years, by October 10. The general agreement among clubs is that only new shareholder loans could be evaluated for fair market value, not existing ones, reports the Manchester Evening News.

A fair market value assessment might take into account the interest rate that would be charged on such a loan in the open market, which could vary from club to club based on their credit score. Crucially, this interest cost would then need to be included in a club's calculation under the profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) and could potentially put more clubs at risk of breaching those rules.

The PA news agency has reported that there will not be a vote on any rule changes at Tuesday's meeting. The rules must also be changed to allow clubs to access databank information being used as a comparison by the Premier League board while it is making a fair market value assessment so that clubs can make representations based on that data before a decision is made.

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The tribunal found it was procedurally unfair not to allow clubs to comment on the data before the league's board makes a decision. Some amendments to the rules voted through in February are also set to be rewound to the wording prior to that vote.

The proposals, which are set to be discussed by clubs on Tuesday, have already been approved by two league working groups. This includes the financial controls advisory group (FCAG), which features Ingo Bank, the chief financial officer of the City Football Group.