The Premier League's financial rules remain in doubt for next season(Image: PA)

Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham handed major FFP update as Premier League 'fear' emerges

by · football.london

Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and the remaining members of the Premier League are unlikely to discover the new Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules when shareholders meet on Thursday.

It is widely acknowledged that Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) in the Premier League will be scrapped at the end of the season. PSR has become wholly unpopular with clubs as it is seen to be too restrictive.

The Premier League announced a crackdown on clubs' spending last season which led to both Everton and Nottingham Forest being docked points. While it is agreed that PSR needs replacing, clubs are still unsure what will be coming in to replace them.

According to The Times, clubs are not keen on voting on new rules to replace PSR until Manchester City's legal case with the Premier League on Associated Party Transactions (APT) has been resolved. While the Premier League is not ruling out a vote, it is understood that this would be unlikely considering the uncertainty surrounding APT which refers to how brands who share the same owners as clubs, fund their sponsorships of teams.

APT particularly affects City considering their owner Sheikh Mansour also owns Etihad Airways. The most likely option to replace PSR is the Squad Cost Rule (SCR) which would limit clubs to spending just 85 per cent of their revenue on player wages, transfers and agents fees.

UEFA operates similar rules but theirs is capped at 70 per cent. Anchoring could also run alongside SCR which would mean the top clubs could only spend five times the amount that those at the bottom receive in TV and prize money, on player costs.

However, the concern and fear for the Premier League is that they are facing another legal challenge, this time from the PFA, if they push through SCR and Anchoring. The PFA claimed in a letter last week that the Premier League had 'deliberately withheld information' regarding these proposed new financial rules which would be a 'flagrant breach' of the agreement the players' union has in place when it comes to matters which involve pay and conditions.