The Premier League and Football Association (FA) have decided on the future of two controversial practices in the modern English game – the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) and Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
In a vote yesterday, the league’s 20 clubs decided to keep PSR for at least one more season. The rules, which have divided opinion since introduction in 2021, were set to be replaced by a new standard, the Squad Cost Ratio (SCR), after the 2024/25 season concludes.
It appears that the SCR implementation will now be delayed, while PSR requirements will continue to place a heavy emphasis on income for clubs, and the 2026/27 season could become a hive of commercial activity as a result.
In summary, SCR rules will see a practice of ‘anchoring’ introduced. This will limit clubs’ expenditure on player wages and transfers to five times the revenue that the lowest placed Premier League club makes in prize money and broadcasting payments.
The rules are intended as a replacement for PSR, which allow clubs losses of £105m over three seasons. The rules have proven unpopular in the 10 years since implementation in 2015/16, and have been criticised by a range of clubs as restricting transfer budgets – in turn affecting on-pitch performance and league position at the end of the season.
Clubs have also faced penalisation due to breaching PSR rules. Everton and Nottingham Forest were deducted points in the 2023/24 season, with the former losing 10 points for two separate breaches and the latter four points for one breach. Everton’s tally was later deducted to eight and Forest’s to three after respective appeals.
Off-pitch disputes to continue….
It is unclear which clubs voted for or against PSR remaining in place at Thursday’s meeting, though it has been reported that just one unnamed club was opposed. This is interesting given the decisions Forest and Everton were hit with and that Leicester City were also charged but managed to escape deduction on appeal.
Other clubs like Manchester United have also criticised the rules, with the club notably coming close to breaching PSR itself when its net losses for the 2024 financial year amounted to £113.2m, with expenses of £768.5m.
The news comes amid a range of other developments concerning the finances and commercial activity of Premier League clubs. Firstly, a verdict on the 115 charges against Manchester City for breaching financial fair play (FFP) rules is due in the coming weeks, according to team manager Pep Guardiola.
In another development involving City, the 2023/24 league champions have launched another legal challenge against Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules, re-raising the dispute over these rules just a few months after league clubs voted in favour.
In a vote back in November, 16 of the league’s 20 clubs approved the continuation of APT rules with City and Aston Villa openly opposed while Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United were reportedly the other two opposing votes.
The latter is partly the reason the rules are in place, having been introduced shortly after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) purchased the club in 2021. The rules attempt to govern commercial relationships and sponsorships, specifically clamping down on commercial arrangements between clubs and companies which share the same owner.
… and so do on-pitch ones
In a move which will have less impact on business but a significant impact on how matches in the world’s oldest club tournament play out, the FA and Premier League announced that Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will be used in the next round of the FA Cup.
VAR and Semi-Automated Offside Technology will be rolled out during the FA Cup fifth-round, which will involve 11 Premier League clubs and five Championship clubs.
The tech will only be used at the seven matches taking place at Premier League stadiums, with the fixture between Championship clubs Preston North End and Burnley the only one to not see the tech used.
The FA states that the decision comes after an ‘extensive testing period’ during the 2024/25 season. It has also been confirmed that match officials will announce the decision over club tannoy systems, something that the EFL trailed during the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
“Semi-Automated Offside Technology will provide more efficient placement of the virtual offside line, based on optical player tracking, and produce virtual graphics to ensure an enhanced in-stadium and broadcast experience for supporters,” the FA said.
“The operation of Semi-Automated Offside Technology does not change the accuracy of the decision making but enhances the speed and efficiency of the process.”
Though it appears the FA has been planning this for some time, some fans may question the timing of the announcement coming just a couple of weeks after Manchester United’s Harry Maguire scored a controversial last minute winning goal against Leicester City in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Many fans took to social media protesting the fact that the goal was allowed with many arguing that it would have been ruled off-side had the referee noticed and/or had VAR been used.
Regardless of this it would not be a stretch to assume that many fans will not exactly be elated with the rollout of VAR in the FA Cup, indicating that the tech is becoming increasingly accepted and adopted across the English game.
Like the PSR rules, VAR has been controversial since its introduction with arguments against it being that it interrupts the flow of a game with often very long delays while a decision is made, while also taking away from the atmosphere of a match.
Despite these protests, the Premier League – again in a similar manner to the PSR decision – opted to retain VAR in a vote last year. The league has set a goal of improving the system, including its sportstech and data partner Genius Sports in the efforts to do so.
