EFL follows Premier League charge by preventing 2016 champions from registering new players or discussing new contracts without approval
Leicester City have taken the remarkable step of launching legal action against the Premier League and Football League after vowing to “fight” the threat of heavy sanctions.
After it emerged that the EFL imposed a transfer embargo on the Championship club, Leicester issued a second strongly worded statement in 24 hours taking aim at the two superpowers.
Leicester were charged with an alleged breach of the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules [PSR] on Thursday, and are facing a possible points deduction next season.
The EFL placed a player registration embargo on the club, after they allegedly exceeded the upper loss threshold in their PSR calculation results.
Yet Leicester responded furiously and with the support of sports lawyer Nick De Marco, issued urgent legal proceedings against both the governing bodies.
Their statement read: “LCFC will be seeking that each of these proceedings is determined by an appropriate and fully independent legal panel.
“The club is committed to ensure that any charges against it are properly and proportionately determined, in accordance with the applicable rules, by the right bodies, and at the right time.
“While LCFC would prefer the proceedings to be in public, so its supporters and the wider world can be informed about the important issues of football governance that will be considered, the relevant rules require that these proceedings are conducted confidentially, and LCFC will therefore not be able to comment further about them at this stage.
“We reaffirm the Club’s position that we will continue to fight for the right of Leicester City and all clubs to pursue their ambitions, particularly where these have been reasonably and fairly established through sustained sporting achievement.”
The transfer embargo means Leicester are prevented from registering new players, or discussing contracts with existing squad members, without prior approval from the EFL. It was confirmed on the reporting service of the EFL’s website on Friday afternoon.
Leicester’s sanction is linked to PSR and has been imposed after the EFL reviewed financial submissions from their member clubs.
“The club further notes that at 4pm today the EFL issued a public notification that LCFC has been placed under a registration embargo pursuant to its P&S rules,” they said.
“The EFL is aware that LCFC has disputed the EFL’s entitlement to impose this constraint, which is both restrictive and premature, with more than a quarter of the club’s 2023/24 reporting period remaining.”
Rival Championship clubs are growing increasingly frustrated and some are concerned that promotion chasers Leicester could avoid punishment this season.
The delay is a consequence of Leicester’s relegation last May taking place before new rules were introduced at the Premier League’s annual meeting following the end of last season.
On Thursday evening the former title winners were referred to an independent commission for alleged breaches of PSR.
Earlier this month it was revealed that the EFL’s Club Financial Reporting Unit (CFRU) had failed to impose a business plan on Leicester after the club were forecast to breached loss limits.
Leicester successfully argued that the plan could not apply to them as they had been a Premier League club in two of the years in the financial period.
Currently second in the Championship, Leicester return to league action on Friday week with a trip to Bristol City.
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