Richard Masters accepts the legal cases facing Premier League champions Manchester City, Leicester City and other top-flight clubs create “uncertainty and frustration” heading into the new season, but says: “There is no happy alternative to enforcing the rules.”
An independent commission is set to rule on the 115 charges facing City at some stage during the season ahead, possibly as early as mid-September, while the Foxes are still awaiting an outcome to their case after first being charged in March with alleged breaches of the league’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR).
The Telegraph has claimed that a Leicester verdict is still likely to be months away, their report adding: “It is understood that the hearing may not take place until later this year, with the prospect of appeals and further legal procedures then prolonging the case into the second half of the season.”
The league is also understood to be investigating Chelsea over possible rule breaches that took place under their former owner Roman Abramovich.
Asked about the significance of all these matters and whether they were a big issue for the league, chief executive Masters told Sky Sports: “It does matter, and I understand it creates uncertainty and some frustration, but there is no happy alternative to enforcing the rules, which everyone agreed at the beginning of each season.
“They have looked each other in the eye and shaken each other’s hand and said ‘we will abide by these rules’, so the Premier League has to enforce rules. Whatever difficulty or frustration that creates is part of maintaining and protecting the Premier League’s competition, its core values, competitive competition. And that’s really my role, and that’s what I want to continue doing.”
