Leicester City docked points for breaching financial rules

Leicester City have been docked six points after being found to have breached profit and sustainability rules (PSR) for the 2023/24 season.

Leicester, who play in the Championship, were docked the points after being found to be in breach of the English Football League's (EFL) financial rules, the Premier League said in a statement on Thursday.

The club overspent "by £20.8m over the three-year assessment period (2022-2024)," investigators said.

The commission also found the club breached Premier League rules in failing to provide their annual accounts to the league when asked to do so.

The punishment, recommended by an independent Disciplinary Commission and imposed by the EFL, relates to Leicester City's promotion to the Premier League in 2024.

The deduction puts the Foxes, who were 17th with 38 points before the punishment, just above the relegation zone in 20th place on 32 points.

The commission was appointed under Premier League rules last May, after an arbitration panel ruled the investigation could be transferred from the EFL to the Premier League following the Foxes' promotion to English football's top division in 2024.

The Premier League initially recommended a 12-point deduction.

The club avoided a points deduction in relation to alleged breaches of the top flight's profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) for the 2022-23 season after an appeal by Leicester was upheld in September 2024.

Leicester said in a statement on its website that it acknowledged the commission's decision "with disappointment" and is considering "next steps".

It said the punishment was "disproportionate", while accepting that the commission's findings "significantly reduced the unprecedented scale of the sanction originally sought by the Premier League".

The points deduction "does not adequately reflect the mitigating factors presented, the importance of which cannot be overstated, given the potential impact on our sporting ambitions this season".

In a statement, the EFL noted the commission "has recommended a deduction of six points," it said, adding that the EFL Board, which had met to consider the decision, had "determined that the sanction should be applied to the Championship table with immediate effect".

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Explaining its decision, the commission said that the club, which won the Premier League in 2016, raised a range of legal challenges over whether the rules should apply and the commission's ability to impose a sanction on the club, "all of which were rejected".

Among the objections raised during a week-long hearing in November was the claim that "the relevant rules were in breach of competition law," the commission said in its statement.

It said it accepted parts of the club's case, relating to the length of the assessment period and "that a particular accounting policy relating to player costs should apply to reduce the club's losses in its 2022 annual accounts".

"Having done so, it determined that the club had breached the relevant PSR threshold by £20.8m over the three-year assessment period (2022-2024)."

The club's claim that it had "demonstrated exceptional cooperation throughout the proceedings" was dismissed, but its improving financial position over the relevant assessment period was accepted in mitigation.

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