Everton and Nottingham Forest are likely to be “furious” with Leicester City for avoiding a profit and sustainability (PSR) breach.
That is according to finance specialist Stefan Borson, who told Football Insider exclusively that the decision will frustrate numerous other Premier League clubs.
Leicester were penalized in March with violating the Premier League’s PSR regulations for 2022-23 after declaring losses of £89.7 million in that year alone, whereas top-flight clubs are only allowed to lose £105 million over a rolling three-year period.
However, they claimed they were no longer a Premier League team when they presented their accounts on June 30, 2018, following their relegation to the Championship.
In July, an independent commission dismissed the accusations, ruling that the Premier League may charge them.
However, Leicester stated in a statement on September 3 that their appeal against the verdict had been successful.
Everton and Nottingham Forest were both docked points last season, so a points deduction would have been the most likely punishment for any prospective transgression.
Everton and Nottingham Forest could have found clever argument
However, Borson stated that those teams should have avoided the violation in the first place or devised a cunning justification, as Leicester did.
“There is no question it’s in the Premier League’s control,” Borson told Football Insider.
“It really should have ensured that there wasn’t a gap of this nature. It’s not that hard to fix it from a drafting perspective.
“There are rules in the Championship rulebook that probably would have made it impossible for Leicester to claim what they claimed at the appeal board.
“Of course, other teams are going to be frustrated. I don’t think it would have been just Everton and Nottingham Forest that would have been frustrated after they found out about this situation.
“I think most clubs probably would have been furious and probably across the game. The EFL also expressed disappointment in its statement with the situation.
“Clearly, if you have lost a substantial number of points like Everton and Nottingham Forest you are going to be frustrated.
“Remember, it’s very likely Leicester would have been lined up for a six-point penalty before mitigation and aggravating factors, so it’s a very serious deduction there.
“It’s natural that other teams will be furious that they appear to have gotten away with it despite a breach on its face.
“But other teams either shouldn’t have breached in the first place or perhaps should have been able to find a similar clever legal argument like Leicester, and then they would have been in the same position.
“But it’s not always possible, you have to run the arguments that you can.”