Noel Gallagher signs petition calling for major Premier League change following Man City APT ruling
The Oasis frontman said Richard Masters has become a ‘mouthpiece for the red cartel’.
Noel Gallagher has signed a petition calling for Premier League CEO Richard Masters to resign in the wake of the Manchester City’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) case.
The results of this summer’s hearing were made public on Monday, with City claiming a victory after the league’s rules were deemed by three independent judges to be in breach of UK competition law. City also said in a statement that the Premier League had ‘abused its dominant position’, with the exclusion of interest-free loans from club owners not factored into the APT rules.
While top-flight bosses claim this will only require a minor rewriting of laws, and point to the fact that the majority of City’s challenges were rejected, the club’s fans view things differently.
The Premier League anthem is booed at every City home match, and Masters opted against going to the Etihad on the final day of last season, meaning he did not hand out the Premier League trophy as expected to Pep Guardiola’s side. This, in addition to the handling of several recent issues such as the points deductions for Everton and Nottingham Forest in years, means Masters certainly does not have universally backing.
Someone who clearly isn’t a fan of the Premier League CEO is Noel Gallagher, and the lifelong City fan has signed a petition calling for Masters' resignation.
“'It has become clear that HE is merely a mouthpiece for the red Cartel,” the Oasis bandmember wrote on the petition, which was created in April and has over 12,000 signatures. “He has targeted and continues to target those that will shape the future of English football on behalf of those that are trapped in the past.”
Gallagher’s signature is another indication of how much distrust has built between City and the Premier League, especially in the midst of the ongoing 115 charges, a case that is in its third of a 10-week trial.
Masters was appointed as Premier League CEO in November 2019 and his time in charge has also seen the controversial takeover of Newcastle United, the Super League saga, while the bill approved earlier this year for the establishment of an independent football regulator has partly come about due to ongoing issues with the Premier League’s management.