Birmingham City were docked nine points this week for breaching spending rules
Aston Villa, Derby and Sheffield Wednesday are all facing the possibility of being hit with points deductions like that that handed down to Birmingham on Friday.
Birmingham were deducted nine points this week for breaching the English Football League’s spending rules, which dictate that Football League teams are only allowed to lose £13 million over a three-year period.
Birmingham’s most recent accounts revealed a £37.5 million loss for the year ending June 2018, and their points deduction – the first punishment of this kind since the EFL’s profit and sustainability rules were introduced in 2017 – sets a precedent for similar punishments to be handed down to other clubs.
The club have 14 days to appeal the decision.
The three clubs mentioned with regards to potential punishments have all been at the centre of their own respective financial problems in recent months and years.
This week Derby County owner Mel Morris was reportedly looking to sell the club for as little as £1, amid rumours that he is losing as much as between £2 million and £3 million per month as owner of the Rams.
In December 2018 Sheffield Wednesday chairman Dejphon Chansiri admitted that the club had broken FFP regulations a number of times, and that they would “need to solve financial worries” to avoid problems in the future.
“If we break (FFP) a little, no problem,” Chansiri said. “But we broke a lot: eight figures high – this is the truth. “If we don’t go up soon, we will break it (spending rules) anyway. If we didn’t spend I believe we would have (already) been relegated.”
Aston Villa’s latest accounts, made available in recent weeks and covering the period up 31 May 2018 show that the club had an operating loss of £32.3 million.
According to a report in the Daily Mail, EFL clubs in recent weeks submitted their three-yearly reports, which cover two years of accounts under the new financial rules and projected accounts for the third year.
