According to Football Insider, the Premier League looks to have challenged the latest verdict in Leicester City’s profit and sustainability (PSR) dispute, causing further points deduction uncertainty. Leicester were penalized in March with violating the Premier League’s PSR regulations for 2022-23 after declaring losses of £89.7 million in that year alone, whereas top-flight clubs are only allowed to lose £105 million over a rolling three-year period.
However, they claimed they were no longer a Premier League team when they presented their accounts on June 30, 2018, following their relegation to the Championship. In July, an independent commission dismissed the accusations, ruling that the Premier League may charge them. However, Leicester announced in a statement on September 3 that their appeal against that decision had been successful, giving them a considerable advantage in their effort to avoid a points punishment. The independent panel claimed the PSR regulations “are, in relevant parts, far from well drafted” in its conclusion, while the Premier League conceded it was “surprised and disappointed” by the result.
On October 16, The Lawyer stated that the governing body’s legal teams are preparing to file an appeal against the ruling. According to Football Insider, the Premier League has likely already filed an appeal to reverse the verdict.
The Premier League faces a ‘enormous’ hurdle in the Leicester case. The Premier League handbook’s arbitration regulations provide few avenues for challenging an appeal board ruling. These include the panel’s departure from the jurisdiction of the body that made the decision, the verdict being reached as a result of fraud or bad faith, procedural errors, a perverse interpretation of the law, or the ruling could not reasonably have been reached by any panel that applied its mind properly to the facts of the case. According to Football Insider, the Premier League most likely filed their appeal believing that no rational panel would have made that conclusion after hearing the evidence.
However, given that two of the three panel members in question were former Court of Appeal judges, this is considered a “enormously difficult” claim to show. If the verdict is eventually overturned, Leicester would most likely face a points deduction, as Everton and Nottingham Forest were both fined points last season for PSR violations.
Although Leicester were a Championship club last season, they were a Premier League club when they submitted their books at the end of June and might face charges from the governing body if they were found to have broken the regulations. Steve Cooper’s squad is presently three points above the relegation zone ahead of their trip to Southampton on Saturday (19 October).
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