Leicester City avoided a points deduction in September due to a loophole in the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules and that loophole has now been closed
Premier League chiefs have moved to close a loophole in their profit and sustainability rules (PSR) that enabled Leicester City to avoid a sanction for overspending earlier this season. The league referred Leicester to an independent commission in March 2023 over an alleged PSR breach.
The Foxes were accused of making losses that exceeded the league’s £105million limit in the three seasons leading up to the 2022-23 financial period. However, Leicester appealed the charges and saw them ultimately dismissed in September.
The commission ruled that the Premier League had no jurisdiction to sanction Leicester as the club’s accounting period ended on 30 June 2023 and they had been officially relegated to the Championship by then, making them a member of the EFL.
The league was not happy with the ruling, releasing a statement that said they were “surprised and disappointed” and claiming that Leicester had been allowed to “avoid accountability” for overspending.
As a result, the league have tightened their PSR rules in a bid to prevent any other clubs from avoiding sanctions in the same way Leicester did. The wording has now been amended in the league handbook, with rule E.49 now stating that clubs “remain bound” by Premier League rules even if they drop out of the top flight.
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It reads: “If a club is relegated from the league, that club shall, notwithstanding relegation, remain bound by Rules E.47 to E.86 as if it were still a club, until such a time as it has complied with all of its obligations relating to all its obligations to its last season as a club.”
The league and Leicester are also currently involved in an ongoing arbitration dispute, with a statement released in January which read: “Issues as to the jurisdiction of the Premier League over Leicester City Football Club in relation to PSR compliance are currently the subject of confidential arbitration proceedings.
“Accordingly, neither the league nor the club will make any further comment at this stage about any aspect of the club’s compliance or otherwise with any of the PSR or related rules, save to say that no complaint has been brought against Leicester by the league for any breach of the PSRs for the period ending Season 2023-24.”
Leicester are on the verge of being relegated back to the Championship again this season, having picked up just three wins in 21 league games under manager Ruud van Nistelrooy.
“There’s always a fight left, there’s always a future, whatever the scenario and when that comes to a conclusion, either way there is a future and that means there is a fight,” Van Nistelrooy insisted earlier this month.
“It’s a challenge to break the cycle, you need personality and character to break this. It’s going on too long, it’s very hard but there’s only one way to break it and that’s to fight and believe we can end this cycle.
“On the other hand you learn so much in difficult times and know when you get out of this you can use it in a great way. I’ve learned so much in the last four months.”
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