Prem clubs disagree on £998m deal as 'only Man City' reject new FFP rules
Premier League clubs have reached a stalemate over a new £998m deal for the EFL.
The 20 top flight clubs - including Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy and Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly - met in London for two and a quarter hours on Monday but could not even get as far as taking a vote on a financial package. It turns up the pressure on Premier League chief executive Richard Masters who has been urged by Government ministers reach an agreement - or a new Independent Regulator will step in.
The Premier League specifically told clubs they were holding two special meetings - on February 29 and March 11 - to ensure a deal gets done and one source described the outcome as a “shambles.”
But Premier League clubs are at loggerheads with each other over who will pay for the new EFL deal and Masters has struggled to bring them together to reach an agreement. There was a vote passed on a new framework for the Profit and Sustainability Rules with Sky News reporting only Manchester City voted against.
That is at the heart of the issue because clubs feel that until they know their budgets for next season and the new-look PSR then they cannot commit to a new EFL deal. There is growing frustration among EFL clubs as chair Rick Parry has insisted huge swathes of their 72 clubs will go under without financial support from the Premier League.
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The new Football Governance Bill is due to go through Parliament but there are growing fears it may not be heard before the next General Election even though Ministers are adamant they are confident it will get passed. Boehly said: “There’s been some votes, they will tell you.” Another source insisted they were moving in a “positive direction” but there is no prospect of agreement any time soon with the next meeting scheduled next month.
It has now become a major embarrassment for the world’s richest league still cannot come together for financial support for the rest of the football pyramid. The Premier League said in a statement: "At a Premier League Shareholders’ meeting today clubs agreed to prioritise the swift development and implementation of a new League-wide financial system.
"This will provide certainty for clubs in relation to their future financial plans and will ensure the Premier League is able to retain its existing world-leading investment to all levels of the game. Alongside this, Premier League clubs also re-confirmed their commitment to securing a sustainably-funded financial agreement with the EFL, subject to the new financial system being formally approved by clubs.
Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly was present at the meeting in London (Getty Images)"The League and clubs also reaffirmed their ongoing and longstanding commitment to the wider game which includes £1.6 billion distributed to all levels of football across the current three-year cycle. The Premier League’s significant funding contributions cover all EFL clubs and National League clubs, as well as women and girls’ football, and the grassroots of the game."
Meanwhile, organisers of the European Super League have claimed they have held private talks with Premier League clubs since a landmark court ruling in December.
English football’s co-called ‘big six’ – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham – were founder members of the original Super League project in April 2021 but quickly withdrew amid fan protests and pressure from the football authorities and the British Government.
Bernd Reichart, the chief executive of A22 which promotes the Super League concept, said: after being asked whether dialogue was ongoing: “Yes of course. It’s absolutely a logical and natural process.
“Everyone is trying to get a sense of what the ruling could mean, it’s the professional obligation of clubs to know what this change in club governance in Europe could mean for them.”
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