The Premier League’s bill for legal fees last season reportedly reached a figure of nearly £50 million amid investigations and hearings for five separate teams.
The bill is six times the amount the league had budgeted for, having originally put aside around £8 million to cover legal fees. The Times reports that the league was set to be questioned at Thursday’s shareholders meeting about the scale of spending.
Clubs either investigated or brought to a hearing are Manchester City, Chelsea, Everton, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City. The hearing against Man City, who have been charged with an alleged 100-plus breaches of financial rules, is currently ongoing.
There has also been a separate challenge by City on the league’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules. The verdict of that challenge is expected imminently.
The investigation against Chelsea involved alleged irregular payments during the ownership of Roman Abramovich. These payments were reported by the club’s new owners when they took over.
Everton and Nottingham Forest were charged with breaches of Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSRs) last season. Both sides received points deductions after being found guilty, the case against Everton was said to have cost around £4.9 million, with the club covering £1.7 million of that cost and the Premier League having to cover the rest.
The Premier League were also preparing for a case against Leicester City, but the club won an appeal against the charges being brought against them just a few weeks ago. They will therefore now not face a potential points deduction.
While that case didn’t go to a hearing, it is still said that costs are likely to have been incurred by the Premier League team preparing for the legal challenge brought to them by Leicester.
The league are reported to explain the skyrocketing costs due to an ‘unprecedented number of cases and investigations. They were also expected to say that the costs are the result of an effort to ‘protect the integrity of the competitions, defend it from legal challenges, and enforce the rules.’
