Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness has claimed Leicester City have dodged a six to nine-point deduction for a breach of Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – claimed the Foxes have been “clever” but should have been punished, because “common sense tells you that’s right”.
Leicester were charged in March with a breach of the Premier League’s PSR for the 2022-23 campaign after reporting losses of £89.7million – while top-flight clubs are only permitted to lose £105million over three years.
They argued they were no longer a Premier League club when they submitted their accounts on 30 June 2023 – following relegation to the Championship.
An independent commission initially rejected those claims, but Leicester confirmed in a statement (3 September) that their appeal against that ruling has been successful.
The Foxes will therefore not face a points deduction for their 2022-23 breach.
icester have ‘dodged a bullet’ after points deduction escape
Wyness told Football Insider‘s Insider Track podcast: “It’s the correct reading of the rules, which were drafted badly.
“Leicester have been savvy, to a degree. All they had to do was look at the rulebook, and it was pretty clear they would be outside the rules if they extended their accounting period.
“It wasn’t the most brilliant legal manoeuvre, but it was certainly clever.
“I don’t blame Leicester at all. They appear to have escaped.
“The Premier League and EFL have come out to say bad things about the club, but nevertheless – it seems they’ve got away with it.
“If these rules are in place, they’ve got to be so you can be caught between leagues because common sense tells you that’s right.
“The points deduction could have been between six and nine points, so they’ve really dodged a bullet.”
