Bournemouth awaiting news of fine for FFP breach

Mark Holmes

Bournemouth are in “positive dialogue” with the Football League as they wait to discover the severity of a fine for breaking Financial Fair Play rules on their way to the Championship title last season.

The Cherries won promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history in 2014-15 but did so exceeding the maximum adjusted loss of £6million set by FFP rules in 2012.

While avoiding a transfer embargo – the sanction which Nottingham Forest and Fulham have received for the same offence – Bournemouth will receive a fine from the governing body, the amount of which is yet to be revealed.

The club are in talks with the Football League in a bid to reach a “satisfactory outcome”.

A statement on their official website read: “AFC Bournemouth is fully aware of the Football League’s proposed financial sanction relating to Financial Fair Play and is currently engaged in positive dialogue with the Football League to reach a satisfactory outcome.

“The club will update supporters when an outcome has been reached and will not be making any further comment at this moment in time.”

Other Football League clubs breach FFP

Championship clubs Fulham and Nottingham Forest are under a transfer embargo for the rest of the current campaign, meaning they will be unable to buy players in the forthcoming January transfer window.

It is second successive season that Forest have fallen foul of FFP rules and placed under embargo.

A Fulham statement outlined some mitigating circumstances behind their rule-breaking.

It read: “The embargo arises as the club made an adjusted loss greater than the £6m limit allowed by the Football League in the year following relegation. The Football League has since recognised this limit is low, especially for clubs recently relegated with Premier League overheads in place, and the limit has now increased to £13m per annum.

“Unfortunately Fulham’s embargo falls in the final year of the previous limit, but the club does not anticipate being in breach in future years.”

Bolton are the third club to be banned from signing players after they were punished for being unable to submit their FFP return owing to their current off-field situation which has seen them served with a winding-up petition by HMRC over an unpaid tax bill.

It is the latest in a long line of off-the-field problems for Bolton, who are £172million in debt, as manager Neil Lennon was the subject of an internal investigation this week after allegations about his private life emerged in a Sunday newspaper, though he has been cleared to take charge of his club’s clash at Rotherham on Boxing Day.

Bolton finance director Anthony Massey said: “The club were unable to submit an FFP return to The Football League. The board have been unable to sign off the annual report and accounts for the financial year ending 30 June 2015 during the current financial difficulties the club are experiencing.

“This is especially disappointing as, based on our draft financial results for the year ended 30 June 2015, we believe we would have achieved FFP.

“Until both the short and longer term funding issues the club are currently facing are resolved, the directors will not be in a position to sign the accounts.”

Millwall were the fourth club to post losses in excess of £6m, but as they were relegated to League One, the Football League deemed them to have gained no advantage and therefore they have escaped punishment.

A Football League statement read: “An initial analysis of Financial Fair Play submissions from clubs that played in the Sky Bet Championship last season has resulted in three clubs being subject to sanctions, under rules agreed with league clubs in April 2012.

“All three exceeded the maximum permitted deviation of £6m – consisting of a maximum adjusted loss of £3m plus a further maximum of £3m of shareholder investment.

“The Football League is currently in discussions with a number of other clubs over their FFP submissions and will confirm any further FFP embargoes, if any, in due course.”