Leicester City are set to avoid a significant points deduction after successfully appealing a Premier League charge for breaching profit and sustainability rules.
The Foxes were accused of exceeding the league’s £105m permitted deficit by £19.5m, which could have led to severe sanctions.
However, Leicester’s legal team argued that since the club was not a Premier League member last season, they should not be subject to the league’s disciplinary measures.
Initially, a commission ruled in favour of the Premier League, but this decision was overturned on appeal, effectively clearing Leicester of any punishment.
The Premier League’s inability to enforce its own regulations in this instance is a major setback for the organisation.
In a statement, the league expressed its frustration, saying the ruling “means that, despite the club being a member of the (Premier) League from seasons 2019/20 to 2022/23, the League cannot take action against the club for exceeding the relevant PSR threshold in respect of the associated accounting periods.”
Leicester’s relegation to the Championship at the end of the 2022/23 season, initially a bitter blow, has turned out to be a stroke of fortune.
The club now escapes punishment because their Premier League shareholding was transferred to Luton Town. This outcome is expected to prompt the Premier League to amend its rules, ensuring that clubs can still be penalised retrospectively even after relegation.
The decision is a significant relief for Leicester, as a points deduction would have made their bid for survival in the Championship far more challenging.
While they may still face a tough battle to avoid further relegation, the fight will be much fairer without the looming threat of a points penalty.
However, the ruling is likely to provoke anger among other clubs, particularly Everton and Nottingham Forest, who were both hit with points deductions last year for their own financial breaches.
The Premier League’s struggle to apply consistent punishment across the board for breaches of financial regulations remains a contentious issue, and this latest episode only adds to the controversy surrounding its enforcement policies.