From Leicester and Chelsea to Birmingham and Wrexham, PSR is broken at all levels
Leicester escaping a Premier League points deduction shows we have entered the age of the loophole
Leicester City are back in the business of fairy tales. What seemed an inevitable punishment is now an impossibility, a big win for the little billionaire against a corporation it represents 1/21st of, entirely to boost its chance of remaining part of that corporation. The beautiful game is only getting more beautiful.
Like Everton and Nottingham Forest, Leicester breached the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) in the three-year period up to 2022-23.
Unlike the aforementioned duo, Leicester were relegated at the end of that season, then promoted again the following year. This meant they avoided any points deductions in 2023-24, but the Premier League pursued charges upon their return.
Leicester didn’t fancy starting this season with a predetermined disadvantage, so they hatched a plan. Enlisting Nick De Marco KC, dubbed the “Lionel Messi of sports law”, they argued being punished for the 2022-23 season wasn’t fair, because the rules state a PSR breach only occurs on 30 June of any year.
Leicester handed over their sole Premier League share on 13 June 2023, so were not under top-flight jurisdiction at the end of the month. Having lost their initial case, they won their appeal entirely based on the overly specific wording of rule E49.
Had they not been relegated, they would have been handed a points deduction similar to Nottingham Forest’s – Leicester breached the £105m, three-year limit by £19.5m, while Forest exceeded their allowed £61m by £24.5m.
Why was Forest’s PSR limit only £61m, I hear you ask? Because they were only promoted from the Championship ahead of the 2022-23 season. Leicester’s instant promotion even meant they avoided being punished by the EFL too.
So while Leicester avoided punishment despite spending 98.4 per cent of the past three years in the Premier League, Forest lost four points after just one top-flight campaign. Welcome to the age of loopholes. Doesn’t it make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
The Premier Legue has long been warned its regulations are not as watertight as Uefa or the EFL’s equivalent, but unsurprisingly the competition governed by turkeys, for turkeys, has refused to tighten its pro-Christmas rules.
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