Jeff Stelling ponders Leeds United and Everton mood following Leicester City PSR appeal success

Broadcasting legend Jeff Stelling has admitted he is unsure how Leeds United supporters will feel after Leicester City won their appeal against against potential points deduction by the Premier League.

The Foxes were alleged to have breached the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations during the 2022/23 financial period after they were found to have exceeded the £105m loss limits put in place. With the threat of a points deduction hanging over them as they prepared to return to the top flight following last season’s Championship title win, Leicester’s appeal was heard by an independent panel, who ruled the league did not have the authority to punish the King Power Stadium club during their time in the second tier. The Premier League released a statement on Tuesday describing themselves as disappointed by the decision and defending the ‘purpose of the rules’ that they have put in place.

The statement read: “The Premier League is very disappointed with the Appeal Board’s decision, and the limited reasons provided for it. The League remains of the view that the original Commission took the right approach in interpreting the rules in a practical and workable way that gives effect to their intended purpose. In overturning the original Commission’s findings, the Premier League considers the Appeal Board’s decision fails to take into account the purpose of the rules, all relevant parts of the PSRs and the need for effective enforcement of alleged breaches to ensure fairness among all clubs. If the Appeal Board is correct, its decision will have created a situation where any club exceeding the PSR threshold could avoid accountability in these specific circumstances. This is clearly not the intention of the rules.”

Leicester released their own statement revealing the appeal board ‘identified flaws in the drafting of the Premier League rules and stressing they were looking to ‘provide consistency and certainty for all clubs’.

It read: “To avoid any misunderstandings which may arise in light of the statement which has been issued by the Premier League in response to the appeal decision, Leicester City wishes to emphasise the finding of the Appeal Panel that, when considering the wording which is actually used in the Premier League rules (in accordance with established principles of English law) the Club did not breach the Premier League PSRs for the assessment period ending 30 June 2023.

“In its decision, the Appeal Board (which was made of up a panel of three experienced, senior lawyers, two of whom are former Court of Appeal judges) identifies flaws in the drafting of the Premier League’s rules. In challenging the Premier League’s attempts to charge Leicester City, the Club has simply sought to ensure (in the interests of providing consistency and certainty for all clubs) that the rules are applied based on how they are actually written.”

Although there was no confirmed points deduction, it seems likely the Premier League would have followed a similar path to the one they took when Nottingham Forest and Everton fell foul of profit and sustainability regulations over the last 12 months. Leeds could well have faced a similar punishment had they not authorised the summer sales of the likes of Archie Gray, Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville - and that has led Stelling to wonder how the mood within Forest, Leeds and Everton may be following the Foxes’ successive appeal.

Speaking on talkSPORT, he said: “Leicester City winning their appeal effectively over an alleged breach of profitability and sustainability rules. The decision by the appeal board all but ends the prospect of them being given a points deduction this season. I wonder how and I’m not saying it is the same situation, but I wonder how fans of Nottingham Forest for example or Leeds United or Everton are going to feel about this.”