Although Newcastle United would profit from anchoring, the PFA has warned to take legal action if the Premier League’s shareholders’ meeting approves modifications to the financial regulations.
After being’repeatedly’ threatened with legal action by the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), Richard Masters has responded.
If squad cost rules and top-to-bottom anchoring are approved at today’s shareholders’ meeting in London, the PFA has threatened “legal proceedings.” Masters has now voiced his opinion in an email addressed to Newcastle United and member clubs, despite the PFA accusing the Premier League of committing a “flagrant breach” of rules requiring the top division to consult on issues affecting players’ wages and conditions.
“The letter is a mischaracterisation of a nearly year-long process of consultation during which the league has engaged with the PFA and its advisers on multiple occasions – both within the PFNCC forum and in ad hoc meetings – on the SCR rules,” the president of the Premier League wrote. “All of the information that has been shared with clubs over that time has been disclosed to the PFA, with the exception of the independent legal advice that was obtained, which would not have been proper to discuss with clubs given their continuous threats of action.
“We had thought that consultation and discussion could settle this. Unfortunately, it currently appears improbable, therefore we will need to think about the best course of action moving forward.
In addition to the initial PSR regulations, which limit losses to £105 million over a rolling three-year period, Premier League clubs are still testing squad cost guidelines and anchoring in the dark. According to UEFA’s regulations, squad cost rules would restrict on-field spending to 85% of revenue and net profit/loss on player sales for non-European teams and 70% for European clubs. Meanwhile, anchoring would allow top-tier teams to spend five times as much on TV and prize money as the bottom-place team.
Anchoring might theoretically level the playing field somewhat because there would be a uniform spending cap in force independent of a club’s commercial revenues, even though Newcastle has been operating under UEFA’s unique regulations, which limit expenditure to 70% of revenue from next season. Although football finance expert Kieran Maguire previously stated that anchoring would be “excellent” for Newcastle, Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has called that a “absurd” prospect and stated it would “inhibit” the Premier League’s top clubs when it comes to competing with Europe’s elite.
He told ChronicleLive, “It creates a level playing field in terms of the maximum amount that each club can spend.” “However, the restriction would be if they also had to follow UEFA’s regulations.
“In terms of competitive balance, Newcastle’s squad cost constraints are not ideal. Those who support squad cost regulations claim that they do not want Newcastle to have access to the world’s top 11 players. I completely appreciate it, but why is Newcastle unable to match Liverpool’s and Manchester United’s budgets?
“They’re not asking for more – they’re asking for equality – but that seems to be one very moot point between the two parties.”
READ MORE ON:https://sportip.co.uk/