EFL’s Harvey defends FFP punishments

EFL chief executive Shaun Harvey insists Financial Fair Play punishments are working despite clubs continuing to break the rules.

It comes after QPR settled a long legal dispute by agreeing to pay a £17m fine. Bournemouth and Leicester have also been fined for breaching regulations, while Birmingham are currently under a transfer embargo.

Harvey said: “I certainly think QPR have taken it seriously enough and I think 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.

“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.

“The EFL has not lost a club to administration in over five years now. Coventry were the last one.

“There is no doubt in the Championship in particular a lot of the clubs survive purely on the basis of owner funding. The vast majority are all making a loss.

“The level of the loss changes. What we have to be really careful about is making sure the owners of the clubs keep funding it.”