Middlesbrough to ‘sue EFL’ over claims it failed to enforce financial rules over Derby’s purchase of Pride Park
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MIDDLESBROUGH have threatened to sue the EFL for failing to enforce their finance rules properly on Championship rivals Derby.
The has revealed that Boro sent a legal letter to league bosses angry at the way Derby were allowed sell their Pride Park stadium to a company owned by chairman Mel Morris.
The Rams beat Middlesbrough to a play-off spot last season by one point, denying the club the chance to secure promotion to the Premier League.
In turn, that saw Boro miss out on the opportunity to claim a windfall of up to £180million for being back in the top flight.
Central to their claim is that Derby exploited a loophole in EFL regulations which permitted the separate company run by Morris to purchase Pride Park for £80m, with a lease-back deal.
But the ground was then listed on the club's assets in their financial statement with a value of £41m.
That allowed Derby to report a pre-tax profit of £14.6m for the last year, instead of losses over £13m-a-year for the past three years - which would have been a breach of the league's profit and sustainability rules.
It was revealed last week the EFL had caved in to pressure from clubs to order an independent valuation of Pride Park - and the report claims independent valuations have also been commissioned by Sheffield Wednesday and Reading.
The background to the issue surrounding Derby is fellow Championship club Birmingham last season being hit with a nine-point deduction for breaching the three-year profit and sustainability regulations in place.
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Boro have made the fact they finished below Derby by a point a key part of their claim, clearly suggesting they feel they have been commercially impacted by them being able to report the profit.
The EFL do have the ability to adjust financial figures lodged if it transpires the valuation of a ground is incorrect.
Derby have insisted they have done nothing wrong and stand by their own valuation - and say the fact the sale was cleared by the EFL before it took place ensures they complied with the rules.
The EFL and Middlesbrough are yet to comment.