Shaun Harvey, the EFL chief executive, said Football League clubs do take rules regarding profit and sustainability, formerly financial fair play regulations, seriously.
His comments come as Birmingham work to lift a transfer embargo that has denied them the opportunity to register, and therefore sign, players before next Thursday’s transfer deadline.
The rules, which were introduced at the start of the 2016-17 campaign, state clubs cannot exceed losses of £39m over a three-year period or they will face penalties from the governing body.
Queens Park Rangers last week agreed to pay a settlement of almost £42m after breaching spending limits in 2013-14 and accepted a transfer embargo for January 2019. Bournemouth recently agreed to pay £4.75m for breaking FFP regulations in 2014-15, the season they won promotion from the Championship, after being issued with a £7.6m fine in 2016.
Birmingham, managed by Garry Monk, were initially handed a “soft embargo” at the end of last season. Such embargoes are designed to allow them to make cuts, as well as prevent a club destined to fail to meet regulations from signing players in an interim period.
Since staving off relegation last season, Monk, who was promised significant funds by the owners, Trillion Trophy Asia, on taking the job in March, has been able to sign only one player this summer, Kristian Pedersen. The £2m buy from Union Berlin is unavailable for selection against Norwich on Saturday, with the club unable to register him with the EFL. The Birmingham chief executive officer, Dong Ren, remains in talks with the governing body over establishing a solution.
In a statement on Monday Birmingham said they were “hopeful” of reaching an agreement with the EFL “as soon as possible”, while on Wednesday, the Birmingham director, Edward Cheng, suggested the club were nearing a breakthrough. “Finally, positive news we have been working hard towards is coming,” he tweeted. “Can’t wait for the new season!”
Harvey said: “The club are fully aware of the situation. We are working with them trying to resolve how they are able to register players for the new season. From my perspective we have been clear and we are hoping to help the club through this. Long before 9 August and deadline day I imagine the position will be resolved and the relevant club will know what it can and can’t do.
“The EFL is not about restricting activity. We want clubs to be strong and we want them to be vibrant. Clubs not being able to sign players they would like to sign is not good for the EFL.”
Asked if clubs pay enough notice to the rules, Harvey added: “I certainly think QPR have taken it seriously enough and Leicester and Bournemouth – whatever your view is on the settlements reached – it is money they would much rather have done something else with than pay it to the EFL, so there is a seriousness. The big challenge we have got in the next six months is to communicate really clearly what can and cannot take place by clubs that breach these rules.”
As well as the introduction of red and yellow cards for managers this season, this weekend is the first time the club-developed player rule will be implemented. Each club have to nominate at least one player who has been registered with them for a minimum of 12 months before the end of his under-19 season on the match-day team sheet in all EFL league competitions. If a club do not name such a player, they can name only six as opposed to seven substitutes.
