6 point deduction - confirmed

[Corky]

3 minutes ago, ClaphamFox said:

I’m pretty sure the choice wasn’t ours, but the EFL’s.

I would imagine the fine was an alternative if a points deduction wasn't permissable. It clearly was this time.

 

Reading about this, we just look so desperate and amateurish. A bit trite but if they had put real effort into improving performance and standards, this could have been eased years ago. 

[Lambert09]

43 minutes ago, ClaphamFox said:

I’m pretty sure the choice wasn’t ours, but the EFL’s.

 

38 minutes ago, Terraloon said:

The IC went through a series of calculations which resulted in the conclusion that if the EFL refused to/ didn’t impose the points deduction that a sum of £1.6 million should be paid as alternative to each point. So 6x £1.6 = £9.6m

Gotcha. Nothing would surprise me with us 

[Wsl]

 

19 minutes ago, Lambert09 said:

Just read an article about our failed challenge, it kept mentioning an alternative punishment of 9.6m which we also challenged as too high.

 

Can someone clear this up, could we have taken the fine? Please tell me we didn’t actually chose the points over 10m that would go down as one of the dumbest moves we’ve ever made. But if it’s not an option why did we even challenge it? 

We argued for a points deduction all the way from referring the initial EFL decision right up until the night before closing submissions in front of the Commission. Only then did we switch our case and argue that a fine would be the only available sanction. Again, I can't do better than to set out what the Appeal Board said:

LCFC’s initial position on sanction in these proceedings was that the only appropriate sanction for breach of the P&S Rules would be a points deduction on its return to the Premier League and that a fine would be “unfair and unreasonable”. It maintained this position until the night before closing submissions and did not amend its pleading even then. Nevertheless, it was permitted to argue that a fine was appropriate and both parties were permitted by the Commission to make submissions as to how the fine should be calculated".

 

Unfortunately for us, the Commission decided that it did have the power to recommend to the EFL a points deduction by way of sanction, and that a points deduction was the correct sanction in the circumstances.

 

Only because we raised an argument that there was no power to impose a points deduction and it therefore had to be a fine did the Commission set out and explain its view of the right way to go about calculating an appropriate fine, should the EFL be unwilling or unable to give effect to the Commission's recommendation to deduct points. The Appeal Board rejected our appeal on this ground and confirmed that the Commission had the power to recommend a points deduction. 

 

So it was never a case of us being able to choose to take a fine, but we did argue a points deduction was the right approach to begin with.