Disputes cost Premier League £45m in legal bills

The Premier League was engaged in legal battles with five of its clubs last season

The Premier League has warned its clubs that it spent more than £45m on legal bills last season due to various disputes over its financial regulations.

The figure is contained in papers sent to clubs ahead of a shareholders' meeting on Thursday in central London.

The league has been embroiled in a series of investigations, disciplinary arbitration processes, and appeals. Cases have involved Manchester City, Everton, Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and Leicester City.

An independent commission hearing into more than 100 charges of alleged financial rule breaches by Manchester City, following a four-year investigation, is now into its second week. The champions deny wrongdoing. The hearing is expected to last 10 weeks.

Clubs at Thursday's meeting could be told about any outcome in City's legal challenge over the league's Associated Party Transactions (APTs) rules, which were tightened earlier this year after being introduced in 2021. They regulate commercial deals between clubs and bodies linked to their owners.

If an arbitration panel has found in City's favour, and the rules have to be amended, other clubs will have to be notified, although no formal announcement is expected.

Sources have indicated that league bosses are likely to defend the spiralling legal costs - which are paid for from central funds - by emphasising the need to uphold rules and referring to the high number of recent cases.

Last month Premier League chief executive Richard Masters told BBC Sport: “Part of any sporting competition is a commitment to uphold the rules. While it does create difficulties, there is no happy alternative to enforcing rules.

"Profit and Sustainability Rules are now in place and we are starting to see clubs breach, and fans having to experience the uncertainty that creates. We want to move to a new system that people have confidence in and can comply with and move away perhaps from long-running regulatory cases."

According to The Times, the league had budgeted for legal bills to only be around £8m.