Albion charge challenges integrity of Championship

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Arrigo Sacchi once described football as "the most important of all the least important things in life".

However much we try to tell ourselves that it's just a game, the events that surround our football club have a profound impact on our emotional state.

For weeks now, Albion fans have been given reasons to smile as James Morrison's Baggies embarked on a seven-game unbeaten run.

But, just as things were starting to look rosy in the Throstles' garden again, breaking news on Monday morning struck a dagger through the heart of those who bleed blue and white.

John Percy of the Daily Telegraph reported that Albion had been charged by the EFL with an alleged breach of profit and sustainability rules. A charge which could carry a points penalty if proven.

Albion say they have done nothing wrong, and the EFL are saying nothing, which is not very helpful.

However, the fact the club said in a statement on their website, "The club will continue to co-operate with the EFL's Club Financial Reporting Unit and looks forward to resolving this matter", suggests there is a case to be answered.

Quite what that case is remains unclear.

There are suggestions that it relates to the interest on the MSD loan, which Albion took out under previous owner Guochuan Lai to help with the day-to-day running of the club.

Bilkul, Albion's current owners, has assumed responsibility for the repayment of the interest on that loan and therefore the £5.2m it amounts to was recharged to Bilkul in the latest accounts.

This is something that some are suggesting the EFL may have objected to.

If so, then it begs questions around the point of the EFL's profit and sustainability rules.

Albion took out that loan, not to compete at the top end of the Championship, but instead to keep the lights on.

The reason for this was, in no small part, due to the previous owner, Lai, who had paid a series of 0% interest loans to his own company, and subsequently missed multiple deadlines to repay them.

In short, Albion were forced into taking out a high-interest loan because their owner was using their cash as an interest-free loan to fund his other interests.

Of course, rules are rules, and if Albion are found guilty, they will no doubt pay the penalty.

But the motivation behind a rule matters, and the EFL seems to have lost sight of that.

If it is punishing clubs for merely trying to stay afloat and pay staff due to their owner wishing to use club finances elsewhere, then surely that goes against their reason for existing (which is to support its clubs).

The further irony is that had Albion failed to pay staff on time, they would have probably been hit with a points deduction there too, so you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

To be clear, I'm all for punishing clubs for overspending in pursuit of a sporting advantage - but that's not really what we are talking about here. While Albion have committed themselves to some inadvisable player contracts in recent years, that doesn't seem to be what caused their breach.

Context matters, and so does timing, and the EFL's timing is appalling.

The EFL's own rules, which it changed last year, state that any punishment must be handed down this campaign.

For most clubs in the Championship (including Albion) there are just four games remaining.

In Albion's case, four decisive games as they hover just two points above the relegation zone.

So, how do Albion approach those games? As a team two points clear or, if they were to receive the mooted three-point deduction, as a team in the relegation zone?

As Steve Hermon of BBC Radio WM pointed out, the rules state that if Albion don't agree with the EFL charge (which it seems they don't) then a hearing must be held within 28 days.

However, the Championship season ends just 19 days from the date this story broke.

Here's a not-improbable scenario.

Albion go into the final day needing a point to stay up. They are drawing late on in that game and therefore hang on to what they have, only to discover some nine days later that it wasn't enough because they are deducted points.

However, it's not just Albion who are impacted.

Another likely scenario.

One of Albion's relegation rivals is drawing late in their game, but they need a win to go above Albion. They throw players forward in pursuit of a winner but concede on the break and lose. A few days later, Albion are deducted points, and they discover that if they'd held on to the draw they had, then they would have stayed up.

The EFL states on its website that one of its values and priority areas is sporting integrity, but this process destroys the sporting integrity of the Championship run-in as teams don't know how to approach games due to the uncertainty it has created.

However, if the EFL does not apply the rules as it has set them out, that too challenges the competition's sporting integrity.

In short, the EFL has painted itself into a corner.

It appears to be woeful mismanagement from a governing body that is not unaccustomed to a crisis.

The teams in the Championship relegation battle and the fans who support them deserve much, much better than this!

Listen to more from Chris Hall at the Albion Analysis