LEICESTER CITY have used a little-known loophole to avoid a points deduction.
But they could still face punishment next season.
SunSport revealed earlier this week that the Foxes were under suspicion of breaching Profit and Sustainability rules (PSR) both last season and in this campaign.
And revelations about their legal battle with the EFL have further angered their rivals in the top flight and Championship.
A senior executive at one club described the situation as “a scandal”.
Leicester submitted figures to the EFL earlier this season that indicated they would break the £83m limit on losses for the three-year period that ends with the 2023/24 campaign.
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The EFL wanted the Foxes to submit a business plan that would have enabled the league to restrict the club’s spending during the remainder of the current campaign.
But the Championship leaders successfully argued that EFL rule 2.9 did not apply to them because they were a Premier League club last season.
The result of the loophole is that punishment for any rule breaches by Leicester this season will not be enforced before next season – by which time they could be back in the Premier League.
The news was another kick in the teeth for the Foxes’ rivals, and not only for the Championship clubs currently fighting them for promotion.
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Clubs who were involved in last season’s Premier League relegation battle against them AND current top-flight teams facing points deductions for their own financial offences feel a real sense of injustice.
Nottingham Forest and Everton are waiting to learn their fate after breaching PSR for the assessment period ending in 2022/23.
Under the Premier League’s new fast-track rules, both clubs had to report their 2022/23 figures by December 31 in order to give the authorities enough time to bring a case this season.
But Leicester, who are suspected of breaching regulations in the same period, did not have to make the same disclosure to the Premier League because they were no longer a top-flight club.
As SunSport explained, this could create an uncomfortable scenario for both leagues.
Everton and/or Forest could be hit with a points deduction for offences related to 2022/23 that leads to them being relegated.
Yet Leicester could gain promotion and replace them in the Premier League despite breaching regulations in that same period AND in the current season.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
