Leicester FFP: Foxes win appeal against decision over alleged financial breach

Leicester City have won their appeal against a decision that an independent commission had jurisdiction to consider an alleged breach of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.

The Premier League said it was “surprised and disappointed” by the move to uphold the Foxes’ appeal.

An independent appeal board found that Leicester’s accounting period – after it was claimed the club had exceeded the maximum permitted £105million loss over a three-season period – ended on June 30, 2023, after the club were relegated from the top flight.

The Premier League said that the appeal board’s decision “effectively 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 welcomed the decision, adding the verdict supported their “consistently stated position that any action against the club should be pursued in accordance with the applicable rules”.

The club could have faced a points deduction had they been found to have breached the financial rules.

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The Foxes have started the season with one draw and two narrow defeats, losing 2-1 at home to Aston Villa on Saturday after a defeat by the same scoreline at Fulham.

Head coach Steve Cooper said after the result that he is confident his side’s fortunes will change.

“We won’t hide away from the fact it’s been a tough start in terms of points and results from the first three games,” Cooper said.

“We have played two teams playing for things at the top end of the table, one playing in the Champions League and strengthened in the summer.

“I believe there has been enough in the three games with us transitioning back into the Premier League, introducing new players that if we keep going, we’ll be more than alright.

“We’ll always own up to results, I’ll be the first to do that, but also look deeper and think we could’ve got something better out of every game we played.

“We are more than competing at the level, we just need to turn it into more positive results but I believe with the growth of the squad, the team and the continuation day by day, that will happen.”

Leicester signed Odsonne Edouard and Bilal El Khannouss late in the window to help up the top end of the pitch.

Cooper will now use the international break to help integrate his new signings into the team in a hope for an upturn in form.

He said: “There’s a couple of new faces that have come in over the last week or so and we’ll enjoy working with them.

“We’ve got a clear plan, a lot of guys going away but a big cohort staying. We want to use that productively and go to Crystal Palace after the break and hit the ground running as best we can.

“It’s more than a starting team nowadays and you’ve seen the changes made from the teams we’ve played and we want to be something similar in terms of not dropping our levels.”

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