TA: Premier League accused Leicester City of violations, and the English Championship may deduct 12 points and start &amp next season; was banned from transfer

May 21 "The Athletic" news, the Premier League accused Leicester City, which has been relegated, of violating the Profit and Sustainable Development Rules (PSR), and Fox City may face a significant penalty for deductions and even a transfer ban.

The Premier League has now handed over the Leicester City case to an independent committee, accusing it of violating PSR rules in 2023-24. During the three-year accounting period ended from 2023-24, Leicester City experienced promotion and relegation. Since the Premier League and the Championship are different authorities, the arbitral tribunal investigated the jurisdiction issue and determined that the Premier League can investigate Leicester City's suspected violations.

Leicester City was relegated from the Premier League in the 22-23 season, and since then they have been trying to avoid PSR sanctions. Because Leicester City has all reached the top eight in the Premier League in the previous three seasons, they hope that the Premier League will relax some rules and regulations because the cost of spending must be increased if they want to compete with the stronger (and richer) teams in the top few teams.

Fox City lost £215.2 million in the three-year cycle ending 2023. In March of the following year, the Premier League submitted the relevant situation to the committee, accusing Fox City of violating PSR restrictions of 19.5 million pounds. But the club won the appeal, arguing that they were not top clubs when they violated the rules because they had been relegated.

But in the 2023-24 season, Leicester City lost another £19.4 million, bringing the total loss in the new three-year cycle to £201.6 million. Since they only played for one season in the Championship, they were allowed to lose only £83 million.

Now, the court will make a ruling on the relevant dispute. First, the Appeal Committee ruled that the Premier League had no right to charge Leicester's violations in the 22-23 season, and whether the Premier League did so violated the law; Second, whether the Premier League has jurisdiction to investigate the club's suspected violations in the 23-24 season, because they participated in the Championship at the time. The court's judgment on the two disputes was: First, the Premier League has the right to accuse and prosecute the club; Second, as long as the EFL (the competent authority of the Championship) begins to investigate the club, the Premier League has the right to conduct a PSR investigation of the upgraded club.

So will Leicester City be deducted for Premier League points this season or for the Championship points next season?

The Premier League cannot sue the club this season because the club refuses to submit accounts for the 2023-24 season to the Premier League before December 31 last year. Therefore, if Leicester City is deducted points, it will be the Championship next season. At that time, the Premier League, under the "instigation" of the EFL, is likely to file a request to a new court to apply for a deduction measure that can be applied to the Championship.

Given the long struggles Leicester City has been sanctioned to avoid sanctions from either party and their recent failure to submit accounts to the Premier League, they will almost certainly be charged with serious violations. This means that from the start of the Championship next season, the club will be deducted 12 points, and the Premier League will even ask for more.

Ironically, if Leicester City had accepted the fate of the 2023-24 season earlier and accepted the punishment that the Premier League considers appropriate, then now, the penalty for deductions in the Premier League has passed, which will not "affect" their relegation, nor will it affect the club's start to play in the Championship next season with a non-negative score.

Since the EFL has not completely given up on the idea of ​​accepting the 2022-23 PSR investigation, then the EFL will be able to take over all the accounts of Leicester City next season, so it is possible that the club faces transfer and budget bans or restrictions.