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Leicester City's seemingly eternal battle with football's financial regulations is bad news for the English game, it has been claimed. Leicester have spiralled into financial rules

chaos after chasing their tails trying to sustain a place in the Premier League's top eight. A shock relegation in 2023 took an almighty whack on their income too - and significantly

reduced the amount they are allowed to lose over a three-year rolling cycle. They won promotion in 2023/24 but have now been referred by the Premier League to an independent commission for

an alleged breach of profitability and sustainability rules for that season - to cap being relegated back to the Championship. The authorities could now come down on them heavily, with a

points deduction likely if found guilty, but leading football writer Martin Samuel claims the rules have become more important than the objective. Leicester, like Manchester United, are not

in danger of going bust due to their mistakes, but have their hands tied in terms of trying to put them right. Samuel writes in today's Sunday Times: "Is this what we do now? Pass

raft after raft of regulations until clubs bleed out? Like Leicester City? "Theirs was a narrative reverberating around the globe, without doubt they improved the Premier League’s

standing. Now Leicester are pursued into the leagues below such is the desire for vengeance having made mistakes. "Think of the most positive stories this year and the clubs involved —

Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Bournemouth — all have endured skirmishes and more over financial regulation in recent years. Is this making English football more attractive? As it continues

to leak talent to foreign leagues, from Kane to Toney to Michael Olise or Dean Huijsen, it does not look it." He added: "(Manchester United have) been poorly run and it has caught

up with them. Mismanagement, weak executive leadership, flawed recruitment, inconsistency in managerial appointments, United have committed all of football’s cardinal sins. "They

deserve no better than to be where they are. What they do not deserve, however, what no club deserves, is to be afforded no way back. And this is where the involvement of the Premier League

is significant. "In the modern world of sports business, how do you take a club that is a worldwide brand leader, among the most recognisable names on the planet, and allow it to rot,

to become a laughing stock, a byword for failure and incompetence? Not that United should be artificially promoted or propelled, not that there hasn’t been ineptitude on an epic scale, but

no club should be corralled by regulations that see impoverishment where there is none, trapping them in this puppet-show purgatory." Leicester won the Premier League title in 2016, the

FA Cup in 2021 and competed in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League between 2016 and 2022. But they were referred to the commission for the three years up to 2023 -

when they allegedly breached PSR limits by £19.5 million - but escaped punishment due to a loophole, successfully arguing they were no longer a Premier League club and not yet a Championship

club when they filed their 2022/23 accounts. That loophole has since been addressed by the top flight and EFL. The club has recorded total losses of £201.6m in the most recent three-year

cycle - although not all, such as spending on academy and infrastructure, are applicable to P&S calculations - but is only allowed to lose up to £84.5m because one year of that was spent

in the Championship. Premier League clubs are allowed to lose up to £35m a year and Championship clubs can lose up to £13m, plus an extra £1.5m for the 2023/24 season due to the rising cost

of living. WHAT DO YOU THINK? CLICK HERE TO HAVE YOUR SAY GET YOUR SPECIAL JAMIE VARDY EDITION OF THE LEICESTER MERCURY It was certainly a fairytale ending to Jamie Vardy's Leicester

City career - netting his 200th goal in his final match for the club. To celebrate, we are launching a this special edition of the Leicester Mercury where we look back at the striker's

amazing career - his journey from non-league to England international, his greatest goals and where he stands in the Foxes' list of all-time greats. We also revisit the trophy-winning

campaigns - the 2021 FA Cup and, of course, the 2016 Premier League title. And there are plenty of tributes from those who played with him, against him and worked with him. Jamie Vardy,

it's certainly been a party! GET YOUR COPY HERE BUY NOW AND HAVE IT DELIVERED DIRECTLY TO YOUR DOOR. ALTERNATIVELY YOU CAN PURCHASE IN PARTICIPATING SUPERMARKETS, HIGH STREET RETAILERS

AND INDEPENDENT NEWSAGENTS FROM JUNE 4 2025. PRE-ORDERS WILL BE DISPATCHED FROM JUNE 4. PLEASE ALLOW 5 WORKING DAYS FOR DELIVERY. THIS IS A NEWSPRINT PRODUCT AND MAY BE FOLDED FOR DISPATCH.

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