Swindon Town Football Club has received a financial blow from the English Football League (EFL), with a £2,000 fine and a three-transfer window fee restriction, which has been reduced to just one with a second suspended, imposed due to breaches of EFL regulations.
The sanctions stem from the club’s accumulation of 30 days or more of late payments during the current 12-month period, spanning from 1st July 2023 to 30th June 2024.
Despite the penalty, Swindon Town FC chose to exercise its right to appeal, contending that the punishment was disproportionate to the offence committed by the club. The appeal process involved an independent Disciplinary Commission, which scrutinised the case.
The Commission, after careful review, determined that the three-transfer window fee restriction should be reduced to two windows, with the second window (August 2024) being suspended and triggered only upon a subsequent breach. However, the £2,000 fine is still to be paid.
According to the judgment, the club accumulated a total of 39 late payment days including payments seven days late to HMRC in June 2023 (notified in July 2023), five days late to HMRC in October 2023, and a 27-day delay in the payment of ticket monies to a third-party club.
The revised decision, made by an independent expert, prohibits the club from making any transfer fee, compensation fee, loan fee, or any other form of payment except a sell-on fee for players for two transfer windows. This restriction starts with the current window, and the suspension of the second window (August 2024) is contingent on the club avoiding further late payments before June 2024.
