A club must submit associated party and threshold transactions to the board where required, and it must keep associated party deals at fair market value. Failure on either side is a breach.
Where a breach can arise
These are the main routes by which the transaction rules can be breached.
| Area | Conduct that counts as a breach |
|---|---|
| Submitting to the board | an associated party transaction or a threshold transaction not put to the board exactly as required |
| Fair market value | no reasonable care that a deal is at fair market value, or a transaction executed on a basis other than the board's determination |
| Information | inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information given to the board with a submission |
| Getting around the rules | conduct aimed at circumventing the transaction rules, obstructing the board's investigation, or hiding pay owed to a player, manager or senior official |
| Databank | details of a databank transaction not filed with the league within 14 clear working days |
The rules also catch related compliance failures outside the table. A club is in breach if it does not meet its databank submission duties to the league, or if it does not give the written confirmation required by the E.66.3 deadline about the compliance steps taken by the club, player, manager or senior official, or does not take those steps at all. Any of those failures can be dealt with through the disciplinary section.
What reasonable care means in practice
A club must use all reasonable care to ensure an associated party transaction is at fair market value. That duty is not limited to a club's direct associated party transaction. The same standard applies where the club arranges or facilitates a deal between its own player, manager or senior official and a third party: the club must use all reasonable care so that the deal is at fair market value.
Whether that standard has been met is judged by the club's systems and by what happened on the transaction itself. The league looks at whether the club had clear, practical and accessible procedures for reaching fair market value, whether those procedures were genuinely implemented and enforced, and whether there is evidence that they were followed with proper enquiry and scrutiny on the deal in question. Further guidance can be issued on that point.
Who is responsible for the information sent to the board
Material sent with a submission must be accurate, complete and not misleading. That obligation is shared.
The club carries the duty, and so does any official or director working on the submission. Each of them must take all reasonable care over the information that goes to the board, so responsibility does not stop with the club as an entity.
After a board valuation and the databank filing duty
Once the board has determined the fair market value of a transaction, the club cannot execute it on any other basis. If it does, the execution itself is a breach.
A determination made under E.58, E.66 or E.68 can be challenged by arbitration as a board dispute. The arbitration rules apply in full, with two points set out here: the sole arbitrator or tribunal chair may shorten the timetable so that an award is handed down within 30 days after the matter reaches them, unless that would clearly prejudice a party; and, apart from the narrow route that exists for comparable transaction data, no party may obtain disclosure of the databank and the tribunal has no power to order it.
For databank transactions, a club must file with the league details of every databank transaction it enters into, in the form and detail specified by the board from time to time. The filing deadline is no later than 14 clear working days after execution, unless that same transaction has already been submitted under E.49 or E.54.
FAQ
Which deals must be put to the board?
If a deal falls within the associated party or threshold transaction route, it must be put to the board in the required way. The review framework also focuses on fair market value and on whether the supporting information is accurate, complete and not misleading.
What happens if a deal is not at fair market value?
That can be a breach in more than one way. A club breaches the rules if it does not use all reasonable care to keep the deal at fair market value, and it also breaches them if it executes a transaction on a basis different from the board's determination; the route from there is to the disciplinary section.
Can a club challenge the league's valuation?
Yes. A board determination under E.58, E.66 or E.68 can be challenged by arbitration, and the dispute is treated as a board dispute rather than a fresh submission exercise.
What matters most in an associated party transaction under these rules?
Two control points sit at the centre of the regime: required submission to the board and fair market value. Separate breach routes then deal with poor information, attempts to get around the rules, obstruction of an investigation, and failures tied to databank filings.