Premier League reject 1 new financial rule but pass another | OneFootball

Premier League clubs have voted against anchoring at Friday’s shareholders’ meeting, but in favour of squad-cost ratio rules.

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The Premier League held a shareholders’ meeting on Friday morning, with two significant votes held on new financial rules for the division.

One of the votes was around “anchoring”, limiting spending to five times the amount paid in prize money and broadcast revenue to the club who finish bottom of the league.

Arsenal had initially been one of the leading voices pushing the new rule, but their position relaxed recently. So perhaps the club wouldn’t have been disappointed when the league ultimately voted against the proposal, with just seven voting for and 12 against.

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The other vote was around squad-cost ratio (SCR) rules, a system set up to replace the current profitability and sustainability (PSR) rules. In that case, Friday’s vote was carried by 14 votes to six, and the new rule will be implemented next season.

The SCR system caps what can be spent on playing squads and managers (including agent fees) to 85% of that club’s total revenue.

UEFA already use a similar system, though UEFA’s version is stricter at 70% of revenue. Chelsea and Aston Villa were recently fined for breaching UEFA’s rules in 2024.

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Back on anchoring, former Arsenal chief Tim Lewis had been a strong advocate of the rules. But with Lewis leaving the club in September, the new leadership team reportedly didn’t have such a strong stance on the issue.

The Athletic report that there were also concerns of legal pushback on the anchoring rules, which would effectively create a salary cap for players.

By contrast, the SCR rules should be much more straightforward to implement, considering they’re already in place for European competition.