Stakes are high for Foxes as they fight back

The Premier League’s statement this week said it had referred Leicester City to an independent commission for an alleged PSR breach and for failing to submit their audited financial accounts to the league for the 2022-23 season, when they were still in the Premier League.

The Premier League has yet to see the accounts — although they were submitted to the English Football League earlier this month — and Leicester believe they do not have to share them with the Premier League as they are now an EFL club and therefore not bound by the top flight’s new December deadline brought in after Leicester were relegated in May 2023.

It seems from Leicester’s statement yesterday that they are up for a fight on this, unlike Forest, who opted for a path-of-least-resistance approach to have their penalty reduced for good behaviour.

Leicester’s legal team, led by Nick De Marco, has already written to both leagues warning them that they will ask for a Rule K arbitration hearing (the FA system for settling disputes) to get a ruling on whether the Premier League has the right to charge and sanction them this season, which will prolong the process.

The stakes are high for Leicester. If they got a points penalty now and that stopped them from getting promoted, they would face a huge cost-cutting exercise or be in breach again. They would be forced to accept a business plan from the EFL, which effectively means operating under special measures.

Such an exercise could leave them stuck in the Championship for several years as they regrouped and possibly affect their chances of staying up should they return to the Premier League.

But another factor is the views of clubs they are competing against this season. Some feel Leicester cynically chose to keep a Premier League-level squad together this season, knowing they were unlikely to be punished for it until they had already gained their objective.

However, Leicester fans might argue that Big Six clubs resent the way in which they won the Premier League title, although it enabled the league to claim that anyone could win it.

The biggest winners will probably be the lawyers who will claim substantial fees, not football.

The MP for Leicester South, Jonathan Ashworth, has written to the managing director of the Premier League expressiing his concern about Leicester's treatment: https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/mp-reveals-letter-sent-premier-9185163

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The Political Economy of Football V2

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