Can we make an appeal?

[supahupa10101]

I know people are probably bored of this subject but with Premier League now voting for spending caps to go ahead in principle for the 25 season. All because clubs like Everton and Forest broke the rules so now they are saying it's not fair so they need to change the rules. Why? They broke the rules. How it's not fair? Anyway, I know ours was the Football League fine, but no one has even battered an eyelid that we have had the worst sanction by a mile. Surely there is an argument that this is unfair and we can appeal? Maybe they can say you paid enough and we can scrap the rest?
Are we still paying of this fine, does anyone know? I have seen a few on here with good knowledge about the financial side of things. Are we still suffering today because of that fine?

[SheepRanger]

The FFP fine we pay does not come out of the FFP loss allowance over the three year period. Thr Board said at the time that it was their error and they would pay the fine themselves. I believe it goes get covered in the company accounts, and because the owners are putting around £12m into thr club every year through loans, they are paying the fine. Likewise, when the loans/debt on the books get too high they write off that debt in exchange for company shares. I believe we're half way through the FFP FA repayment plan, so probably have another £8m to pay.

We have tried to get this fine changed before without success, so I doubt we'd revisit it again. We've moved on.

It may still be a financial liability against the club, but as we don't make a profit and it falls outside of our £35m FFP loss allowance over three years there's no direct impact to the playing squad.

QprOlso is really the financial expert on this MB and if he has anything to add I'm sure he will.

[QPROslo]

I am happy to explain, Sheep and Supahupa.

My take is that we were exceptionally gently treated and much better treated than almost all other clubs that have been in breach of FFP.

The fine has no impact on QPR. It has not weakened our ability to sign players or to spend the money of the shareholders as we want. They reason why it has had no negative effect on QPR is that the fine is not taken into account for FFP reasons. Hence, in reality, the fine only affects the owners wallet. These guys have spent more than £400m on their hobby called QPR, and ca £15m extra is petty change for them (£15m is the net discounted figure after the owners got an interest free instalment plan over 10 years). The fine is in QPRs books of formal reason, but our budget is not affected by it.

Those clubs that are badly hurt by EPL or EFL because of breach of FFP are those that have received points deduction. This has caused clubs to be relegated - a devastating effect. Forest can be relegated this season as a result of their fine.

I like to compare our fine to that of two car drivers taken for speed driving. The first drove 100 miles an hour in the 60 zone and the other drove 120 miles in the 60 zone. The first gets a jail sentence and lose his drivers license for two years (think of this as relegation). The other, who drove 120 miles, gets a fine that is a peanut fine compare to his wealth - lets say a penalty equal to a weeks pay (think of this as a fine from EFL). We were the latter guy. We got the softest penalty, despite having the most draconian breach of the two drivers. We had an overspend of more than double of what we were allowed. The overspend of Everton and Forest are much less.

I think we shall send a Christmas card to EFL every year and thank them for the gentle way they treated us. And we as fans shall put to bed any idea of us being badly treated and stop moaning We are not badly treated, and there is no need for an appeal.

[Abseits]

Our overspend was effing astronomical too. Back then, fines were calculated via some sort of formula linked to the overspend so higher the overspend, the higher the fine was. I recall the fine we ended up with was somewhat reduced to what it could've been if they'd stuck rigidly to the formula.

The thing is this, you gotta remember that the FFP/FSP rules always were, and always are, voted in and ratified by the clubs. The clubs make the rules yet the same clubs whine and moan when they fall foul of the rules they devised and signed up to. But I suppose that's football..... operates in an environment where normal morals, thinking, planning, governance and financial controls are all tossed out the window.

[supahupa10101]

Much appreciated guys