Birmingham face 12-point deduction
Club to be hit hard for breaking spending rules Rivals angry over £2m signing under embargo
Birmingham City are facing a 12-point deduction for breaking rules on spending, in a landmark case for the English Football League.
The punishment could be imposed on the Championship club this season, after the EFL agreed on the proposed sanctions this week.
Birmingham are understood to be in deep trouble for breaching profitability and sustainability rules, with the EFL determined to adopt a tough stance by pushing for a deduction of up to 12 points and a heavy fine. The points deduction would be the biggest punishment since Leeds were deducted 15 points in 2007.
Rival Championship clubs have also complained over Birmingham’s £2million signing of Danish left-back Kristian Pedersen while under a transfer embargo.
Pedersen was signed from Union Berlin in June despite the club operating under a “soft” embargo, leading to the EFL later admitting in a statement that they were “exceptionally disappointed”.
Birmingham’s hearing is likely to be in the next two months and the club, owned by Trillion Trophy Asia, are expected to contest any sanctions. A verdict will then be delivered by an independent panel, possibly before Christmas, with the EFL and clubs pushing for a “gamechanging punishment”.
Daily Telegraph Sport understands the points deduction could be imposed this season, which would throw manager Garry
Monk’s campaign into further turmoil.
Birmingham were hit with an embargo at the end of last season after exceeding the permitted losses of £39million over a threeyear period. In August they were forced to agree a business plan with the EFL after the embargo was partially lifted.
That allowed Monk to sign five players in the summer transfer window, but the plan restricted him to only free transfers or low-cost loans on wages under £10,000 a week.
Queens Park Rangers agreed a £42 million settlement with the EFL this summer and accepted an embargo for the next transfer window in January after they were guilty of overspending in the 201314 season when they won promotion to the Premier League.
Bournemouth and Leicester City have also reached cash settlements for breaching FFP regulations, but a points deduction for Birmingham would be the most severe recent sanction.
Birmingham are currently 20th in the Championship and still waiting for their first league win of the season under Monk, who was appointed in March. The club declined to comment on the possible sanction.
An EFL spokesman said: “The club has been referred to a disciplinary commission which will hear representations from both the EFL and Birmingham City before reaching a decision.
“The commission, convened under EFL regulations, has the scope to determine the sanction without restriction.
“The board of the EFL has not as yet agreed on the sanction that it will be seeking from the commission, having discussed the matter at its board meeting yesterday for the first time.”