It's fair until it's not. Suppose for example there is a system in place that goes something like this
1) Clubs can raise money through sponsorship of their stadiums, shirts, noodles etc
2) Where a club owner has a related interest in the organisation sponsoring the club this must be noted in the accounts
3) when a sponsorship is from a related party a FMV test is applied and the value maybe amended in a subset of the accounts
Then we get into murky water
4) if the sponsoring organisation is not a related party it may be an associated party. An association can be very broad but let's limit it to one based on geography. If the club owner and the sponsoring organisation all originate from the same country they are associated.
5) in the case of an associated party transaction the deals are subject to further scrutiny and may be prohibited or capped (I think)
6) oh by the way just because you're American and the sponsoring organisation is American it doesn't necessarily mean it's an associated transaction
7) oh you're from a gulf state? Oh definitely associated then
8) therefore out of the 20 teams in the league 2 teams are subject to greater sponsorship scrutiny and caps than the other 18.
9) Etihad could sponsor United for £5billion a year but only be allowed to sponsor City for £50million based on country of origin
10) also we have to send details of our sponsors and 2 failed sponsors to the premier league who are also sponsored by potentially competing organisations in the same industry. The premier league also seems to have difficulty keeping things confidential.
It's fair until the majority uses their power against the minority
