There have already been concerns about how far competition in the Championship has been distorted by parachute payments, but with further increases planned the Football League is trying to evolve a strategy for dealing with the situation.
Otherwise the Championship could become a waiting room for Premiership clubs with the smaller clubs making up the numbers. The Football League is worried that its own financial fair play rules could be undermined.
There have already been concerns about how far competition in the Championship has been distorted by parachute payments, but with further increases planned the Football League is trying to evolve a strategy for dealing with the situation.
Otherwise the Championship could become a waiting room for Premiership clubs with the smaller clubs making up the numbers. The Football League is worried that its own financial fair play rules could be undermined.
The total amount to be received by relegated clubs will go up to £59m over four years: £23m in the first year, £18m in the second year and £9m in each of the two remaining years. At the same time, ‘solidarity payments’ to Football League clubs are going up by just five per cent despite the big increases in revenue enjoyed by the Football League under the new television deal.
One radical option being considered is a ‘hard’ salary cap of, say, £20m that would limit how much clubs could spend on players in a year. Another option might be to withhold the Football League’s own television money, currently about £2.3m a season, from clubs receiving parachute payments. Club chairmen are reluctant to consider the ‘nuclear option’ of breaking all links with the Barclays Premier League.