Skip to main content

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

 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Threat of financial calamity removed from Baggies

West Bromwich Albion had effectively been in decline ever since the club was sold to a Chinese consortium in August 2016, paying a figure north of £200m to buy former owner Jeremy Peace’s stake. Controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai’s ownership was fairly disastrous for the club, but his unloved tenure finally came to an end after Bilkul Football WBA, a company ultimately owned by Florida-based entrepreneur Shilen Patel and his father Dr Kiran Patel, acquired an 87.8% shareholding in West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, the parent company of West Bromwich Albion Football Club. This change in ownership was urgently required, due to the numerous financial problems facing West Brom, including growing high-interest debt and serious cash flow concerns, following years of no investment from the former owner. Indeed, West Brom’s auditors had already rung the alarm bell in the 2021/22 accounts when they cast doubt on the club’s ability to continue as a going concern without making player s...
1 comment
Read more

Gold standard ground boosts Tottenham's income

The gold standard in European football grounds is the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in north London, a £1bn construction project completed in 2019. Its impact on the club’s finances has become increasingly clear as the effects of the pandemic have faded. Previously, the average fan would spend less than £2 inside the ground on a typical match day, but now that figure is about £16, thanks to new facilities including the longest bar in Europe and an on-site microbrewery. Capacity has gone up from 36,000 at the club’s previous home of White Hart Lane to 62,000.  The new stadium — built on land adjacent to White Hart Lane — has opened the door to a broad range of other events that have helped to push commercial income up from €117mn in 2018 to €215mn in 2022. Last year, Tottenham hosted US singer Beyoncé for five nights on her global Renaissance tour, two NFL matches, as well as rugby games and heavyweight boxing bouts.  Money brought in from football has gone up too. Match day ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Spurs to sell minority stake

Tottenham Hotspur is in talks to sell a minority stake in a deal that could value it at up to £3.75 billion and pave the way for Joe Lewis and his family to sever ties with the Premier League football club. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is seeking an investment that values the club at between £3.5 billion and £3.75 billion, including debt. While the terms of any deal have not been finalised, City sources expect Spurs to sell about 10 per cent. The club is being advised by bankers from Rothschild on the sale. Tottenham wants to raise fresh capital for new player signings and to help fund the development of an academy for its women’s team, as well as a 30-storey hotel next to its north London stadium. The financier Amanda Staveley, who brokered the deal for Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to take over Newcastle United, is understood to be among the parties to have expressed an interest in Tottenham. Staveley’s fund, PCP Capital Partners, has raised about £500 million to ...
Post a Comment
Read more