Leicester City have been deducted six points in the Championship by the English Football League for breaching financial rules.
The Foxes’ docking of points will be applied immediately increasing their relegation fears. They have gone from 17th in the table down to 20th on 32 points and are only above the relegation zone on goal difference.
Leicester could face back-to-back relegations, with the King Power Stadium outfit losing their Premier League status last season.
An independent commission recommended the points deduction sanction, which was ratified by the EFL board on Thursday.
The commission was appointed under Premier League rules last May, after an arbitration tribunal ruled jurisdiction to investigate alleged breaches of EFL rules could transfer to the Premier League following the Foxes’ promotion to the top flight in 2024.
The commission determined the club had breached the relevant P&S threshold by £20.8million over the three-year assessment period ending 2023-24.
The Foxes were also found by the commission to have breached Premier League rules in failing to provide their annual accounts to the league when requested to do so.
Leicester City ‘disappointed’ by EFL points deduction
In a statement Leicester said they were ‘disappointed’ with the decision, branding it ‘disproportionate’.
‘While the commission’s findings significantly reduced the unprecedented scale of the sanction originally sought by the Premier League, the recommendation remains disproportionate and does not adequately reflect the mitigating factors presented, the importance of which cannot be overstated given the potential impact on our sporting ambitions this season,’ the statement said.
‘We are now reviewing the decision in full and considering the options available to us.
‘We remain committed to engaging constructively and ensuring that any action is fair, proportionate and determined through the appropriate processes.’
The Foxes avoided a points deduction in relation to alleged breaches of the top flight’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) for the 2022-23 season after an appeal by Leicester was upheld in September 2024. An appeal board found in that instance the independent commission appointed under Premier League rules did not have jurisdiction over the club, because it ruled the 2022-23 accounting period ended a month and two days after the club’s relegation from the top flight.
In the latest case, the Premier League initially recommended the EFL sanctioning guidelines should be applied as normal to Leicester, which would have meant a 12-point deduction.
It then offered an adjusted methodology under which the sanction would be 12 points if it was accepted that the total three-season accounting period covered 37 months, or eight if it was 36 months.
The commission decided the applicable assessment period in this case was 36 months.
