English contract law and football: Lessons from Appeal Board’s decision in the Leicester City case

An independent Appeal Board has found that the Premier League’s PSR do not apply to Leicester City FC for any breaches of loss thresholds which may have occurred in respect of the accounting period ending in the 2022/2023 season. This decision overturns the earlier first instance decision which found that the Premier League’s PSR did apply to Leicester City FC.

This successful jurisdiction challenge leaves the Premier League seemingly unable to impose PSR sanctions for breaches related to a period ending with a season in which a club was competing in the Premier League, but which occur once the club ceases to be a member.

This article discusses the application of English law principles of contractual interpretation by both the Commission and Appeal Board in this case (the Premier League Rules being governed by, and construed in accordance with, English law).

The first instance jurisdiction decision is available here^[1] and the appeal decision is available here^[2]. For more information on what this decision means for interpretation of sports rules, please see this article by Nick De Marco KC on LawInSport.  

Article Highlights

• Introduction
• Contractual interpretation: English law cases cited
• Application of Section W of the PL Rules to this case
• The Decision in Leicester
  • Approach to interpretation
  • Timing
• The Appeal Decision
  • Approach to interpretation
  • Timing
• Conclusion