26-04-2017, 14:00
HMRC officials were seen at the club’s training ground in Benton and at St James’ Park on Wednesday 25th April and Toon fans are concerned this could cost them the move to the Premier League.
Although the investigation is at an early stage, a precedent has previously been set when clubs have been found guilty of financial irregularities with a points deduction being the outcome.
According to the English Football League’s rules and regulations regarding sporting sanctions, clubs could face point deductions in the case of an “insolvency event”.
The rules state: “If any club becomes subject to or suffers an insolvency event, that club shall be deducted 12 points.
“If a group undertaking of a club becomes subject to or suffers an insolvency event, then the board shall have the power to impose upon the club a deduction of 12 points scored or to be scored in the League competition.”
This would be subject to appeal but the league’s rules say this point deduction is done because of the need to protect the integrity and continuity of the competition and to protect the reputation of the league and the game of football generally.
The points would be deducted when the club becomes subject to any insolvency action. If this is before the fourth Thursday in March, the deduction is applied straight away. If it is after the fourth Thursday in March, the club will start the next season on minus 12 points.
So could Newcastle be kept in the Championship?
As the team is not facing any insolvency action it is unlikely to see any points deduction at this stage. Of course that may change as the HMRC investigation develops.
The English Football League’s rules do not explicitly say what happens to a club facing insolvency if they were expected to be promoted out of the league, and a spokesperson refused to comment on the issue.
Although the investigation is at an early stage, a precedent has previously been set when clubs have been found guilty of financial irregularities with a points deduction being the outcome.
According to the English Football League’s rules and regulations regarding sporting sanctions, clubs could face point deductions in the case of an “insolvency event”.
The rules state: “If any club becomes subject to or suffers an insolvency event, that club shall be deducted 12 points.
“If a group undertaking of a club becomes subject to or suffers an insolvency event, then the board shall have the power to impose upon the club a deduction of 12 points scored or to be scored in the League competition.”
This would be subject to appeal but the league’s rules say this point deduction is done because of the need to protect the integrity and continuity of the competition and to protect the reputation of the league and the game of football generally.
The points would be deducted when the club becomes subject to any insolvency action. If this is before the fourth Thursday in March, the deduction is applied straight away. If it is after the fourth Thursday in March, the club will start the next season on minus 12 points.
So could Newcastle be kept in the Championship?
As the team is not facing any insolvency action it is unlikely to see any points deduction at this stage. Of course that may change as the HMRC investigation develops.
The English Football League’s rules do not explicitly say what happens to a club facing insolvency if they were expected to be promoted out of the league, and a spokesperson refused to comment on the issue.