No Premier League Clubs Charged with 2021-2024 PSR Breaches

Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City v Everton - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - December 31, 2022 General view of a Premier League branded ball inside the stadium before the match REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City v Everton - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - December 31, 2022 General view of a Premier League branded ball inside the stadium before the match REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
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No Premier League Clubs Charged with 2021-2024 PSR Breaches

Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City v Everton - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - December 31, 2022 General view of a Premier League branded ball inside the stadium before the match REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City v Everton - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - December 31, 2022 General view of a Premier League branded ball inside the stadium before the match REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo

No English top-flight clubs have been charged for breaches of Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) for the period 2021-2024 although Leicester City remain at risk pending the outcome of an ongoing legal case.

Clubs that had reported losses in the initial two years of the current three-year period were obligated to submit their accounts for the 2023-24 season to the Premier League by Dec. 31. Losses should not exceed 105 million pounds over a rolling three-year period, according to the league's PSR rules.

Everton and Nottingham Forest were both sanctioned last season for breaches of PSR rules and were docked eight and four points respectively.

Leicester, who were promoted last season from the Championship but are currently 19th in the table, avoided a points deduction against a charge in September relating to the three years until the end of the 2022-23 season, Reuters reported.

The club's appeal against the charge was upheld on the basis that an independent commission ruling on the case did not have jurisdiction because Leicester's accounting period ended when the club had already been relegated to the second tier.

"Issues as to the jurisdiction of the Premier League over Leicester City Football Club in relation to PSR compliance are currently the subject of confidential arbitration proceedings," the Premier League and Leicester said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

"Accordingly, neither the League nor the club will make any further comment at this stage about any aspect of the club's compliance or otherwise with any of the PSR or related Rules, save to say that no complaint has been brought against Leicester by the League for any breach of the PSRs for the period ending Season 2023/24."

No English top-flight clubs have been charged for breaches of Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) for the period 2021-2024 although Leicester City remain at risk pending the outcome of an ongoing legal case.

Clubs that had reported losses in the initial two years of the current three-year period were obligated to submit their accounts for the 2023-24 season to the Premier League by Dec. 31. Losses should not exceed 105 million pounds over a rolling three-year period, according to the league's PSR rules.

Everton and Nottingham Forest were both sanctioned last season for breaches of PSR rules and were docked eight and four points respectively.

Leicester, who were promoted last season from the Championship but are currently 19th in the table, avoided a points deduction against a charge in September relating to the three years until the end of the 2022-23 season.

The club's appeal against the charge was upheld on the basis that an independent commission ruling on the case did not have jurisdiction because Leicester's accounting period ended when the club had already been relegated to the second tier.

"Issues as to the jurisdiction of the Premier League over Leicester City Football Club in relation to PSR compliance are currently the subject of confidential arbitration proceedings," the Premier League and Leicester said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

"Accordingly, neither the League nor the club will make any further comment at this stage about any aspect of the club's compliance or otherwise with any of the PSR or related Rules, save to say that no complaint has been brought against Leicester by the League for any breach of the PSRs for the period ending Season 2023/24."



Al Rajhi Takes over Dakar Rally Lead after Miserable Stage for Lategan

 Driver Yazeed Al Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Riyadh and Haradh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)
Driver Yazeed Al Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Riyadh and Haradh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)
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Al Rajhi Takes over Dakar Rally Lead after Miserable Stage for Lategan

 Driver Yazeed Al Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Riyadh and Haradh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)
Driver Yazeed Al Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Riyadh and Haradh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)

Local driver Yazeed Al Rajhi took advantage of a miserable stage by South Africa's Henk Lategan to grab the Dakar Rally lead in the Saudi Arabia desert on Tuesday.

Lategan led the Dakar for the past week, but errors and bad luck on the 357-kilometer ninth stage from Riyadh south-east to Haradh turned his overall lead of more than five minutes over Al Rajhi into a potentially decisive seven-minute deficit.

The rally has effectively two days and 400 kilometers remaining in the dunes of the Empty Quarter. The last day, Friday, is a ceremonial drive to the finish line in Shubaytah.

Al Rajhi, like Lategan, has never won the Dakar. This is the Saudi's 11th attempt with a best finish of third in 2022. He'd been lying second since last Wednesday. The title race appears to be between only them.

Third-placed Mattias Ekström of Sweden and five-time champion Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar were about 25 minutes behind.

“It's a bit of disaster to be honest,” Lategan said. “About 13 kilometers in we got lost. We thought we missed the waypoint but we actually had it. When we got lost we got one puncture and then towards the end we got another one and the wheel is actually flat. So, it was a messy, messy, messy day for us but it's not the end of the world, we're still in it.”

Lategan and navigator Brett Cummings were 11th on the stage and Al Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk third.

“We did a great job like we planned to,” Al Rajhi said. “We pushed well. We enjoyed it, that's the most important. I hope everything goes well the next two or three days to win the Dakar ... I will fight to win. It won't be easy.”

Al-Attiyah won the stage ahead of Belgium’s Guillaume de Mévius in under three hours to rise to one minute off third place overall.

His 49th car stage win, and first in the Dakar for Romanian manufacturer Dacia, lifted him to only one behind the record jointly held by Finland's Ari Vatanen and France's Stephane Peterhansel.

Sanders cushions motorbike lead Australian rider Daniel Sanders bolstered his motorbike lead to nearly 15 minutes when closest challenger, Spain's Tosha Schareina, crashed early.

The back wheel of Schareina's Honda hit a rock and sent him flying only 20 kilometers in. He resumed racing but the nearly four minutes he finished behind Sanders dropped him in the general standings.

Schareina's teammate Adrien van Beveren of France remained third, more than 20 minutes behind, while Sanders' KTM teammate Luciano Benavides of Argentina strengthened his position in fourth place by winning his second successive stage.

Benavides, thanks to collecting time bonuses of nearly five minutes by opening the way, beat Van Beveren by nearly two minutes, and repeated his win into Haradh two years ago. Sanders was third after leading until about 70 kilometers from the end.

“I only got lost a couple of times ... and lost a little bit of time,” Sanders said. “I could have pushed and made some more (time) but it's not too bad.”