EFL places Burnley under transfer embargo after late accounts submission | Burnley
Burnley, the runaway Championship leaders, have been placed under a transfer embargo.
The Lancashire side sit 13 points clear at the top of the table and look assured of an immediate return to the Premier League. The club have claimed in a statement that the situation should be quickly resolved.
Burnley blamed the late submission of their accounts, because of a change in auditor, for the sanction imposed by the EFL. A statement on the club website read: “We would like to share with our supporters the disappointing news that the EFL are placing the club under an immediate transfer embargo.
“We believe transparency in these matters is paramount and we want to explain why this has happened. In our continued efforts to improve and move forward Burnley Football Club we made the decision to change our auditors in November and the transition has taken longer than we anticipated.
Quick Guide
Sunderland beat Norwich to close on playoff places
Show
Tony Mowbray’s side bounced back from a painful 5-1 home defeat to Stoke as Abdoullah Ba’s well-taken 15th-minute goal settled an entertaining encounter at Carrow Road, leaving the Black Cats five points off the playoff spots.
Norwich, who would have gone back into the top six with a win, dominated the game for long spells, especially in the second half, but struggled to create clear-cut openings, with some excellent defending keeping them largely at arm’s length.
The Canaries had two good chances to grab an early lead, with Anthony Patterson, the Sunderland goalkeeper, doing well to thwart Max Aarons after the right-back had stolen in at the back post. Patterson then grabbed a low drive through a crowded box from Marcelino Núñez.
But the visitors, who had also seen plenty of the ball, were the ones to break the deadlock.
Poor defending allowed Joe Gelhardt to slide in a pass to Ba and the midfielder burst forward and, from just outside the area, beat Angus Gunn with a well-struck shot into the bottom corner.
Sunderland should have gone two up a couple of minutes later when Gelhardt broke the offside trap and ran through, but with defenders on his heels he could only shoot straight at Gunn, who made a smart reaction stop.
PA Media
“We can confirm that we have provided draft accounts and financial information to the EFL’s Club Financial Reporting Unit and we continue to have regular dialogue with the unit to ensure we remain as open and as transparent [as we can] and answer any questions the League may have.
“We believe the EFL will have no issue with the detail of our accounts other than their late submission and fully understand and support their position and efforts to sanction any club who fails to comply with any of their regulations. Both the club and our new auditors are confident this can be resolved swiftly and we hope our submission will be made next month, at which point the embargo will be lifted.
“We once again wish to assure supporters this will have no detriment to the ongoing success and development of the club as we move forward.”
after newsletter promotion
Burnley now face a race against time to ensure the embargo is lifted before the transfer window reopens at the end of the season.