Leicester City have won their appeal against the Premier League after it was alleged that they had breached the division's Profit and Sustainability Rules.
At a time when the Foxes were securing an immediate return to the Premier League, a report emerged that they had broken the financial rules for the top flight.
Fresh off the back of Everton and Nottingham Forest committing similar rule breaks, there was an expectation that Leicester would suffer the same fate of a points deduction at some point in 2024-25.
However, the East Midlands outfit announced on Tuesday evening that they had successfully appealed the decision through an independent panel.
The Premier League did not have the jurisdiction to hand out any punishment to Leicester due to their relegation to the Championship.
Leicester City has won its appeal against a decision that an independent Commission had jurisdiction to consider an alleged breach by the Club of Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSRs).
— Leicester City (@LCFC) September 3, 2024
What did a Leicester statement have to say?
In a statement, Leicester said: "Leicester City has won its appeal against a decision that an independent Commission had jurisdiction to consider an alleged breach by the club of Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSRs).
"The Premier League first referred the club to an independent Commission in March 2024 for an alleged PSR breach relating to the assessment period ending 30 June 2023. The Commission dismissed the club's initial challenge to its jurisdiction to hear the case, but the club's challenge has now been upheld by an independent Appeal Board, which reversed the Commission's finding.
"Leicester City welcomes the Appeal Board's comprehensive decision, which supports our consistently stated position that any action against the club should be pursued in accordance with the applicable rules.
"To avoid any misunderstandings which may arise in light of the statement which has been issued by the Premier League in response to the appeal decision, Leicester City wishes to emphasise the finding of the Appeal Panel that, when considering the wording which is actually used in the Premier League rules (in accordance with established principles of English law) the club did not breach the Premier League PSRs for the assessment period ending 30 June 2023.
"In its decision, the Appeal Board (which was made of up a panel of three experienced, senior lawyers, two of whom are former Court of Appeal judges) identifies flaws in the drafting of the Premier League's rules. In challenging the Premier League's attempts to charge Leicester City, the club has simply sought to ensure (in the interests of providing consistency and certainty for all clubs) that the rules are applied based on how they are actually written."
The Premier League have responded to the ruling by saying: "If the Appeal Board is correct, its decision will have created a situation where any club exceeding the PSR threshold could avoid accountability in these specific circumstances.
"This is clearly not the intention of the rules."
© Imago
Major boost for Leicester
Had Leicester lost their appeal, they faced the possibility of restarting Premier League action after the international break on minus points.
Just one point has been accumulated from fixtures against Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham and Aston Villa, albeit the defeats to the latter two teams only being by 2-1 scorelines.
Darren Plant
