Blackburn, Leeds and Nottingham Forest handed transfer embargoes
Blackburn, Leeds and Nottingham Forest have been given transfer embargoes for
the rest of the season for breaching Financial Fair Play rules.
The Championship trio have been handed the bans for not meeting the Football
League's Fair Play Requirement.
Under existing rules, clubs were permitted to lose no more than £3m a season,
with a maximum of £5m of shareholder investment in 2013-14.
The clubs will have the opportunity to have the embargoes lifted in June.
To do so, they will need to prove they have stayed within an operating loss of
no more than £3m, with a maximum of £3m of shareholder investment for the
2014-15 season.
Blackburn managing director Derek Shaw said: "Whilst the ruling will clearly
present some difficulties, we will of course respect the rules of the Football
League.
The view from Leeds
BBC Radio Leeds sports reporter Adam Pope
"Head coach Neil Redfearn said after Saturday's defeat by Fulham that the
team needs more players with Championship experience and by my reckoning they
should still be able to make four signings. The timing of the embargo coincides
with owner Massimo Cellino submitting his appeal against his disqualification
but with three big games between now and January and the team just five points
above the relegation zone, Redfearn knows he cannot afford to allow this to
interfere with the players' concentration."
"A lot of effort and hard work has been done to reduce player costs over the
last two years, but we have wanted to rebuild and challenge in this division at
the same time, and we will continue to do that."
Forest manager Stuart Pearce, speaking prior to confirmation that the club
would be placed under an embargo, said: "We are acutely aware of what direction
we will go if we are under an embargo. If you cannot go out and buy a player in
the transfer market that is always a little bit hurtful.
"But the flip side is that if you have to be cute in the transfer market and
get Bosmans and free transfers. We feel we have the scouting network that can
cope with that.
"As a football supporter I would not want my club to go bust because of
financial overspending, so if the League are putting plans in place to
safeguard then long-term future of football clubs then fine; I have no problem
with that at all."
The clubs will still be allowed to sign players in January if they have 24 or
fewer players over the age of 21 who have made at least five starting
appearances for the club in total.
Any of these signings must not cost the club a transfer fee and must cost less
than £600,000 a year.
Existing Championship FFP rules
2014-15: Losses of no more than £3m, up to £6m with owner investment
2015-16: Losses of no more than £2m, up to £13m with owner investment
Clubs with 24 or more players fitting the criteria will be allowed to trade
players on a 'one out, one in' basis.
In addition:
a.. Clubs under an FFP embargo will be permitted to sign a goalkeeper on an
emergency basis, in line with existing regulations.
a.. Clubs under an FFP embargo will not be permitted to pay transfer fees or
compensation fees for professional players.
a.. Clubs under an FFP embargo will not be permitted to pay a loan fee to
another club, they may only pay the player's wage, or a contribution towards
it.
a.. For incoming players, clubs can only pay agents' fees as a benefit in
kind to the player in question, as long as they do not exceed the £600,000
employee costs limit.
In November, Championship clubs agreed to a new set of FFP guidelines to come
into effect from the start of the 2016-17 campaign which will allow clubs to
lose up to £15m across a period of three seasons without having to detail how
that loss will be funded.
The Guardian
Leeds United, Blackburn Rovers and Nottingham Forest will all have a transfer
ban for the January window after breaching the Football League's financial fair
play (FFP) rules.
The League announced that the three clubs all incurred financial losses more
than the £8m permitted during last season.
Submissions from QPR, Leicester and Burnley - who were all promoted to the
Premier League - plus the three clubs relegated last season will now be
considered by the Football League.
A statement said: "An initial analysis of FFP submissions from the current 24
Championship clubs has indicated that three clubs - Blackburn Rovers, Leeds
United and Nottingham Forest - have failed to meet the fair play requirement
under the division's FFP rules.
"Consequently, all three will be subject to an 'FFP embargo' under Football
League regulations from January 1, 2015 for the remainder of the current
campaign."
Under the transfer embargoes, the three clubs will be prohibited from signing
any new players - either on a permanent or loan deal - unless they have 24 or
fewer "established players'', which is described as 24 players aged 21 or over
that have made at least five starts for the club.
Blackburn's managing director Derek Shaw said in a statement: "Whilst the
ruling will clearly present some difficulties, we will of course respect the
rules of the Football League.
"A lot of effort and hard work has been done to reduce player costs over the
last two years, but we have wanted to rebuild and challenge in this division at
the same time, and we will continue to do that."
The clubs will have their embargoes lifted at the end of the season if they can
demonstrate they have stayed within the maximum permitted losses of £6m - £3m
losses plus £3m covered by shareholder investment - for the current season.
An initial analysis of Financial Fair Play submissions from the current 24
Championship clubs has indicated that three clubs - Blackburn Rovers, Leeds
United and Nottingham Forest - have failed to meet the Fair Play Requirement
under the division's Financial Fair Play rules. Consequently, all three will
be subject to an 'FFP embargo' under Football League regulations from January
1, 2015 for the remainder of the current campaign.
The Football League is currently in discussions with a number of other clubs
over their FFP submissions and will confirm any further FFP embargoes, if any,
in due course. It will also now consider submissions from the three clubs
promoted to the Premier League and the three clubs relegated to League 1 at the
end of the 2013/14 season.
Blackburn, Leeds and Forest all exceeded the maximum permitted deviation of £8m
- consisting of a maximum adjusted operating loss of £3m plus a further maximum
of £5m of shareholder investment - during the 2013/14 playing season. Each club
will have the opportunity to have its FFP embargo lifted at the end of the
season by demonstrating that it has stayed within the maximum permitted
deviation of £6m (£3m operating loss plus £3m shareholder investment) for the
2014/15 season.
The Football League has also confirmed the way in which FFP embargoes will
operate for clubs placed under this sanction.
Clubs will be prohibited from registering any new professional players
(permanent contract or loan) unless they have:
. 24 or fewer established players (players aged 21 or over that have made at
least 5 starting appearances for the club).
Where clubs have fewer than 24 established players, they will only be permitted
to sign players in the following circumstances (with the player in question
being added to the club's list of established players regardless of his age or
previous playing experience):
. Where the employee costs of a player being signed are less than £600,000
per annum (or pro-rata if signed on a shorter contract).
Where clubs have 24 established players, they will be permitted to trade on a
'one out, one in' basis but only if the employee costs of the player coming in
to the club are no more than whichever is the lower amount of:
. 75% of the equivalent costs of the player going out.
. Or a maximum of £600,000 per annum (or pro-rata if signed on shorter
contract)
In addition:
. Clubs under an FFP embargo will be permitted to sign a goalkeeper on an
emergency basis (in line with existing regulations).
. Clubs under an FFP embargo will not be permitted to pay transfer fees or
compensation fees for professional players.
. Clubs under an FFP embargo will not be permitted to pay a loan fee to
another club, they may only pay the player's wage (or a contribution towards
it).
. For incoming players, clubs can only pay Agents' Fees as a benefit in kind
to the player in question (as long as they do not exceed the £600,000 employee
costs limit).
Read more at http://www.football-...IU76BHYJP4C1.99
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John 'Grampa' Sykes
Rest In Peace old lad
28th Oct 1938 - 12 Nov 2013
MARCHING ON TOGETHER
