Premier League wants EFL to fall into line with curtailment rule before granting bailout

The Premier League wants the English Football League to fall into line with its yet-to-be-agreed curtailment rules before it approves a coronavirus bailout to lower-league clubs of up to £250 million.

Telegraph Sport has been told the condition is among several the EFL is resisting being placed on the £22 million-a-month rescue package, which chairman Rick Parry this week admitted was urgent amid fears some teams could go bust before Christmas.

As revealed by Telegraph Sport, new rules over exactly what happens in the event of an incomplete season in the professional game were not introduced before the start of the current campaign.

That is despite top-flight clubs having wanted to avoid kicking off without clear regulations in place in case Covid-19 caused football to be suspended again.

Premier League teams have still to agree how many matches should be played for a season not to be declared null and void, amid disagreement over whether it should be at the two-thirds or three-quarters mark.

Clubs also postponed a debate over curtailment back in June following a row over whether sides should be promoted or relegated if their fate had not already been decided before a campaign was called off.

That was after EFL teams voted for promotion and relegation to take place last season across its own divisions. Parry also vowed to resist any scrapping of promotion to, and relegation from, the Premier League.

Both governing bodies want to agree a harmonised set of curtailment rules but the EFL is not prepared to agree a special exemption for promotion and relegation, while it is also unwilling to make any other concessions in order to secure a bailout.

Those include the Premier League’s other strategic objectives, such as its post-Brexit immigration policy and the future football calendar.

The world’s richest league also wants to ensure any bailout is not used by lower-league clubs to buy new players or to pay inflated wages, something the EFL has sought to provide assurances over.

To that end, the Premier League is said to be demanding Championship clubs follow those in League One and Two in introducing a salary cap, talks over which had been put on hold after a failure by second-tier teams to agree an annual limit of £18 million.

The EFL is confident of securing a bailout after the Government made it clear it expected the Premier League to provide financial assistance to the rest of the football pyramid.