A RANCOROUS week ended in deadlock and disappointment after the Premier League yet again failed to offer the EFL a new deal on financial redistribution.
A draft proposal of around £900m over six years was expected to emerge from a meeting of top-flight clubs on Monday.
Instead, a statement announced the creation of a new set of financial rules to replace existing profit & sustainability regulations, and said that any funding deal for the EFL would be contingent on this new system being approved by clubs. This is likely to take several months.
The delay prompted a furious response from across the sporting and political spectrum, with the EFL criticising the Premier’s League “repeated failure” to put forward a funding offer that it said would have “significant benefits for the entire football pyramid”.
Peter Ridsdale, right, a director at Preston and one of three elected representatives from the Championship on the EFL Board, added: “We’ve made it clear to the Premier League that if they put their proposals into a formal offer, we would recommend acceptance. We’re sitting here today and we have not had that offer, despite the fact we were told it was coming last September.
“All we want is to make sure we have a sustainable and competitive EFL. If we don’t keep it competitive and sustainable, then English football is finished.”
Backstop
It is now 13 months since a government white paper announced the creation of a football regulator and ordered the Premier League and EFL to strike a mutually acceptable deal on financial redistribution, warning that the regulator would be given legislative ‘backstop’ powers in the absence of a mise. compro-
Several offers have since been rejected by EFL chairman Rick Parry, who is manding the abolidetion of parachute payments and a redistribution deal worth 25 per cent of the Premier League and EFL’s combined net media revenue. It was widely felt a deal was getting closer, but the events of this week cast significant doubt on those assumptions.
Opposition
At Monday’s meeting, the Premier League’s executive put forward a proposal to pay £836m over five years, in addition to the existing £110m in solidarity payments and £40m a year youth development funding.
However, ten clubs - reported
