The Premier League will issue any complaints to clubs in breach of its profitability and sustainability rules (PSR), and therefore at risk of a points deduction, on Tuesday.
There has been speculation Leicester could be charged by the league, but neither the club nor the league have commented on the matter.
Sources close to Chelsea’s ownership are extremely confident they are compliant despite heavy transfer spending since the 2022 buyout by a consortium featuring Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, and so too are Everton and Nottingham Forest.
Both Everton and Forest were charged last January with breaching PSR, which dictate that clubs are in breach if they exceed the maximum permitted losses of £105million over three seasons, a figure which is reduced for any of those seasons spent outside the Premier League.
Those charges were in relation to their 2022-23 accounts and were fully heard within the final months of last season under the league’s ‘standard directions’ for PSR breaches, with Everton docked two points and Forest four. Everton had also been docked 10 points in November 2023 for a PSR breach for the period ending with their 2021-22 accounts, a sanction which was reduced to six points on appeal last February.
Clubs with aggregate losses in the last two accounting periods – 2021-22 and 2022-23 – were obliged under league rules to submit 2023-24 accounts to the Premier League by December 31, with any complaints to be issued to clubs by the league within 14 days.
There has been speculation Leicester could fall foul of the rules this time. They were charged with a PSR breach in relation to their 2022-23 accounts in March last year but an appeal ruled in September that an independent commission set up under Premier League rules did not have any jurisdiction over the club, because they had been relegated to the EFL by the time the 2022-23 accounting period ended.
The Premier League case then was that Leicester had made a loss of £129.4m over the three seasons up to and including 2022-23.
Investment in infrastructure, academies, charity foundations and women’s football are all items which can be treated as ‘add backs’ in a club’s PSR calculation and which do not count towards the £105m loss figure.
Sources close to Chelsea insist they have followed all Premier League regulations and are confident of compliance.
The PA news agency reported in September that the sale of two hotels to a company linked to the club’s owners had received Premier League approval.
The club have also sold the women’s team to the club’s parent company, a deal which is also subject to Premier League scrutiny.
The regulations currently permit profit from the sale of ‘fixed tangible assets’ to associated parties to be included in a club’s revenue calculation, provided those sales are deemed to have been done for fair market value.
A vote to close this loophole failed to get the required 14-club majority at the league’s annual general meeting last June, with only 11 clubs voting in favour.
Last August, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said he welcomed clubs trying to “find an angle” to gain a competitive edge over their rivals, so long as they stayed within the rules.
Manchester United posted losses of £113.2m for the year ending June 30, 2024 in September last year, but remain confident they are compliant when all factors are taken into account.
