QPR Face Exclusion From Football League Competitions Over FFP Warns CEO

Premier League club Queens Park Rangers face expulsion from professional football if they refuse to pay their multi-million pound Financial Fair Play (FFP) fine, find the Football League Chief Executive said on Tuesday.

Shaun Harvey says that the league could deny QPR permission to play in its competitions if the club carries out their threat to contest their punishment for breaching its FFP regulations, ailment believed to be up to £50 million.

That would result in QPR being thrown out of football if they were ever to be relegated from the Premier League.

Even if the club avoid relegation this season, the Football League could also kick them out of the League Cup from next season.

“I would hope there would be resolution long before that option even had to be considered,” said Harvey.

“The one thing for certain is that most clubs [in the Premier League] will become a Football League club again.

“Now QPR will, of course, be hoping it does not happen for some considerable number of seasons. But the chances are they will need to return to the Football League fold at some point in the future.”

QPR chairman Tony Fernandes previously insisted that he would “fight” any attempts by the Football League to fine the club over losses they incurred last season.

Rangers recorded losses of £65.4 million during the 2012-13 season and last season’s figures will not be any better following their relegation from the Premier League and subsequent loss of Premier League television income.

QPR must submit those accounts to the Football League by December and any potential sanctions will follow early next year if the club have exceeded an £8 million limit.

Harvey is confident that any issue would be resolved by the Football Association, rather than a legal battle.

Speaking at the Soccerex Global Convention, he said: “Football has a number of processes to try to keep its debates out of court and inside a tribunal system or arbitration system under the FA’s guise.

“Ultimately, I believe the FA would have a part to play in terms of determining the outcome between a club and a league in which they are not currently playing.”

Harvey warned that the punishments for FFP breaches by Football League clubs were non-negotiable, unlike those Uefa imposed on Manchester City and Paris St. Germain last season.

“Unless the 24 clubs vote to change the rules, the rules as they are now will stay in place,” he said.

“I don’t suspect there is any form of rule change that would be considered or brought forward that would see the current circumstances we potentially face changing.”