Leicester in big trouble: in the sights of the League for possible violation of financial rules

There English Football League wants to accuse the Leicester of the alleged breach of profitability and sustainability (PSR) rules that the Premier League has been blocked from pursuing this month, should the club be relegated. The EFL is seeking legal advice, it says The Guardianafter an independent commission ruled the Premier League did not have the jurisdiction to charge Leicester for excessive spending during the 2022-23 campaign.

Leicester were already at risk of a possible penaltybut the legal team of the Foxes successfully argued that, following relegation last summer, it was not a Premier League club when it submitted its accounts for the 2022-23 season on 30 June 2023. Unlike the PL which had accused the English club of breaching the £105m cap of PSR losses by £24.4m. And based on the punishments handed out to Everton and Nottingham Forest last season, it would have resulted in a deduction up to seven points in case of conviction.

The EFL makes its voice heard. It is determined to ensure the regulations are enforced and will firmly argue that it can impose sanctions on Leicester for the 2020-23 cycle because the club, despite having played in the Premier League for all three seasons, were officially in the Championship when the accounts were presented. “You can’t have clubs going up and down and getting away with it because they’ve changed divisions,” a league source told the English tabloid. “It’s ridiculous. Promotion and relegation are a pretty well-established concept.”

For the record, however, The EFL has been in dispute with Leicester for over a year – it reads – and its regulations do not provide time limits for infringements of the PSR. The Foxes will have to submit the balance sheet for the 2023-24 season by 31 December, in 2022 and 2023 it recorded losses of 92.5 and 90 million pounds, but remains confident of avoiding a violation.