QPR’s FFP dispute close to finally being resolved

QPR’s long-running Financial Fair Play dispute is expected to be resolved during the next fortnight.

West London Sport revealed last May that the issue would be decided by arbitration after lengthy legal wrangling between Rangers and the Football League.

And an arbitration panel, which will be made up of three QCs, will sit next week and hear evidence from both sides.

Rangers are challenging the legality of the League’s Championship FFP rules, under which the club face a massive fine for losses recorded during the 2013-2014 financial year.

Promotion to the Premier League was achieved that season, but relegation the following year left QPR open to a potential fine of more than £50m.

Despite several subsequent reports of an imminent deal between the two parties, legal arguments failed to resolve the issue.

With League rules having stipulated that clubs making a loss of more than £8m would be subject to a fine, QPR reported a loss of £9.8m for the year in question.

But that was only after the club’s owners wrote off £60m in directors’ loans in an attempt to boost their case against a heavy fine.

QPR have also argued that they should not be punished according to FFP rules introduced after the club committed to player contracts while in the Premier League between 2011 and 2013, as they could not then be reasonably expected to comply with the new regulations once relegated to the Championship.