S4A chair seeks EFL clarity on West Brom PSR charge, cites informed view | OneFootball

S4A chair Leigh Kent has asked the EFL to clarify the profit and sustainability charge facing West Bromwich Albion.

According to ExpressAndStar.com, a hearing follows last week’s disclosure of an alleged PSR breach. It is believed to concern interest on a loan from United States lender MSD Holdings taken in 2022 and 2023 under Guochuan Lai. The club insist they are not in breach.

Shareholders for Albion represents minority investors, about eight per cent, with Shilen Patel’s Bilkul Football WBA now in control. Kent, who works in the legal sector, said he emailed the EFL, copying the Independent Football Regulator, to raise sporting integrity and timing. He said the club cannot discuss the substance with him at this stage.

He wrote that if the issue is as he suspects, his view, informed by involvement since 2020, is that Albion would not be in breach if all relevant matters were considered. He also set out the sequence behind the MSD loan, citing alleged shortcomings by the EFL and Premier League.

Kent added the case is complex and that Albion have taken advice from at least two professional teams. He worked closely with the club during Lai’s troubled tenure, before their February 2024 rescue when administration was understood to be a real prospect. He also drew comparisons with Leicester and Sheffield Wednesday, bottom and second-bottom, with Leicester close to joining Wednesday in League One.

Source: ExpressAndStar.com