Fans react on Leicester City being given a points deduction with the Championship table since being updated, and changes things up.
The Foxes have been deducted SIX points after being found to have breached the Premier League’s financial rules. And it could have been far worse.
The punishment leaves them outside the Championship relegation zone on goal difference, dropping down from 17th to 20th.
EFL STATEMENT:
The EFL notes the decision of the independent Disciplinary Commission, appointed under Premier League Rules, which has confirmed that Leicester City FC breached the Profit & Sustainability Rules in the three-year reporting period ending with Season 2023/24.
On consideration of all relevant factors, the Commission has recommended a deduction of six points.
The EFL Board has met to consider the decision and determined that the sanction should be applied to the Championship table with immediate effect.
LEICESTER STATEMENT:
It is with disappointment that Leicester City acknowledges the Independent Commission’s decision and the Club will use the time available to consider its next steps.
While the Commission’s findings significantly reduced the unprecedented scale of the sanction originally sought by the Premier League, the recommendation remains disproportionate and does not adequately reflect the mitigating factors presented, the importance of which cannot be overstated given the potential impact on our sporting ambitions this season.
We appreciate the Commission’s agreement with the Club’s position that compliance for FY24 should be assessed over a 36-month period – an important point both for the period in question, but also in providing the Club with certainty on its PSR/P&S compliance for FY25. The panel also agreed there were no aggravating factors which should be applied to the sanction, which is something the Club had maintained throughout, and acknowledged the Club demonstrated a positive trend in its finances in FY24.
We are now reviewing the decision in full and considering the options available to us. We remain committed to engaging constructively and ensuring that any action is fair, proportionate and determined through the appropriate processes.
Leicester will consider an appeal but this punishment could have been much, much worse – Premier League understood to have been pushing for a 20-point deduction for various aggravated breaches #lcfc https://t.co/2P8gugtnI5
— John Percy (@JPercyTelegraph) February 5, 2026
It is with disappointment that Leicester City acknowledges today’s Independent Commission decision and the Club will use the time available to consider its next steps.
— Leicester City (@LCFC) February 5, 2026
PREMIER LEAGUE STATEMENT:
An independent Commission has recommended that an immediate six-point deduction be imposed on Leicester City FC in the Championship, having found them to be in breach of the EFL Profit and Sustainability Rules (P&S Rules) for Season 2023/24.
Upon Leicester City’s promotion to the Premier League in 2024, the EFL’s investigation into the club’s alleged breaches of the P&S Rules transferred to the Premier League. Following an Arbitration Tribunal’s decision in March 2025 that confirmed the Premier League had jurisdiction, Leicester City were referred to an independent Commission in May 2025.
During a week-long hearing in November 2025, Leicester City raised a range of legal challenges regarding the applicability of the relevant Rules and the Commission’s ability to impose a sanction on the club, all of which were rejected. These included a claim that the relevant rules were in breach of competition law.
The Commission accepted the club’s submissions as to the length of the relevant assessment period and that a particular accounting policy relating to player costs should apply to reduce the club’s losses in its 2022 annual accounts. Having done so, it determined that the club had breached the relevant P&S threshold by £20.8million over the three-year assessment period (2022-2024).
The Commission found that the club’s refusal to provide its annual accounts to the Premier League by the relevant deadline was a breach of Premier League Rules. It also dismissed a claim by the club that it had demonstrated exceptional cooperation throughout the proceedings. Following agreement by the parties, and consistent with the relevant guidelines, the Commission agreed that the club’s improving financial position over the relevant assessment period was a mitigating factor.
Under EFL Regulations, as Leicester City is currently a Championship club, the EFL Board today ratified the Commission’s recommendation of an immediate points deduction.
Click here to read the independent Commission’s full written reasons. A summary of the decision can be found here.
Commissions are independent of the Premier League and member clubs. The members of the Commission were appointed by the independent Chair of the Premier League Judicial Panel.
Notes
EFL P&S Rules (see EFL handbook) and Premier League PSRs (see Premier League Handbook Section E)
– All EFL Championship clubs are assessed for their compliance with the Profit & Sustainability Rules (P&S Rules) each year. The P&S Rules are substantively similar to the League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSRs), which apply to all Premier League Clubs up until the end of the 2025/26 season. A new set of financial rules will come into effect from the start of the 2026/27 season.
– Under the EFL Regulations, when a Championship club is promoted to the Premier League, the EFL can transfer jurisdiction for any ongoing investigation into breaches of the P&S Rules to the Premier League
– Where a Commission selected from the Premier League’s independent Judicial Panel recommends the imposition of a points deduction in the Championship, Regulation 87.7 of the EFL Regulations applies.
– Compliance with the P&S Rules is assessed by reference to the club’s P&S Calculation, which is the aggregate of its Adjusted Earnings Before Tax for the relevant assessment period.
– The relevant three-year assessment period is measured by reference to a club’s annual accounts, which normally cover a 36-month period. When a club extends its accounting year-end, the annual accounts will, taken together, cover an extended period. As it was permitted to do, Leicester City extended its accounting year end in 2023, meaning the period covered by the club’s annual accounts in this assessment period was 37 months. The Commission accepted that a literal interpretation of the P&S Rules would normally result in a 37-month period applying, but decided that, in the particular circumstances of this case, the applicable assessment period was 36 months.
– A club’s Adjusted Earnings Before Tax figure for each season takes account of its profit or loss after depreciation and interest, but before tax, and then applies a series of “add backs”.
– These “add backs” are costs that the EFL, the Premier League and their clubs recognise to be in the general interest of the club and football. Examples include, investment in infrastructure, community, women’s football, youth development and depreciation of tangible fixed assets.
– A club will be in breach of the P&S Rules if its P&S Calculation over the relevant period results in a loss in excess of £39 million (with that threshold increased by £22million for each season that a club has been in the Premier League during the relevant period).
– Leicester City’s loss threshold under the P&S Rules was £83million.
– The EFL commenced an investigation into Leicester City for the club’s alleged breaches of the P&S Rules for the three-year assessment period ending in the club’s 2024 financial year. Upon Leicester City’s promotion at the end of Season 2023/24, on 6 June 2024, the EFL’s investigation into these matters transferred to the Premier League.
– Premier League clubs that recorded a loss across the previous two financial years were required to submit their audited annual accounts by the following 31 December. This requirement has been amended slightly with effect from the 2025/26 season so that each club (including each promoted club) must now, as a matter of course, submit by 31 December each year its annual accounts for the previous financial year.
Premier League investigations and independent Commissions
– The Premier League Board has the power to investigate any suspected or alleged breach of Premier League Rules. Rule E.77 of the 2024/25 Rules (now Rule E.83) provides that where a Promoted Club, at the point at which it becomes a member of the Premier League is the subject of an investigation by the EFL for alleged breaches of any aligned provisions within the EFL Regulations, responsibility for that investigation will pass to the Board.
– There are a number of options available to the Board where it suspects or alleges a breach of the Rules. For PSR/P&S cases, the matter will be handed to an independent Commission to determine whether there is a breach and, if so, what the sanction should be.
– Significant disciplinary matters, such as PSR/P&S complaints are dealt with by an independent Judicial Panel, comprising a number of legal, financial and other experts. Members of the Judicial Panel are appointed, in accordance with Premier League Rules W.19, W.20 and W.26, by its independent Chair, The Rt. Hon. Sir Gary Hickinbottom, an experienced former Court of Appeal judge. It is the Chair who selects members of the Judicial Panel to sit on Commissions, which are independent of the Premier League and its clubs.
– All proceedings before an independent Commission are confidential and heard in private.
– There are a range of sanctions available to the independent Commission which include fines, points deductions and other sporting sanctions.
– Under Premier League Rule W.83.3, at the conclusion of proceedings, an independent Commission’s final decision will be made public via the Premier League’s website.
– A party to the proceedings that wishes to challenge a decision of the independent Commission may do so under Section W of the Premier League Rules.
Fans react on Leicester City being given a points deduction with Championship table since being updated…
“It could have been worse”… says Sam. Fan reaction to the six point deduction… comment your views.#lcfc #leicester #leicestercity pic.twitter.com/445cF3UT42
— Leicester Fan Tv (@LeicesterFanTV) February 5, 2026
@LestahSam”: How about instead you use the time to reflect on the pure ineptitude that led to this situation? Instead of paying Harry Winks 90k a week in the championship, how about paying a fraction of that to buy Rudkin and co out of their contracts? Pathetic
@lcfchm62898: It is with disappoint that you still exist.
@psb_group: Imagine cheating and still ending up in league one 😂😂😂😂👏🏻 Quality, enjoy lads
@craiglcfc: The lack of acceptance of failure and accountability is staggering. This is all on the board. Nobody else.
@Richiee_1: 6pts – we got away lightly given we tried to get away with it! Relegation battle looming though. #lcfc #efl
@lee1978lcfc”: No acceptance or taken any accountability … Embarrassing. #lcfc 💙🦊
