LONDON: QPR’s Malaysian owner Tony Fernandes has vowed to fight the prospect of a Financial Fair Play fine after his club’s precarious finances were boosted by promotion to the Premier League.
Fernandes was watching from the stands at Wembley on Saturday as 10-man QPR returned to the top-flight with a 1-0 win against Derby in the Championship play-off final.
The result was a huge relief for Fernandes because it guaranteed a much-needed financial windfall next season.
Promotion to the Premier League is worth around £80m ($134m, 98m euros) to QPR, who were already due £40m next season if they had stayed in the Championship as part of the parachute payments given to clubs relegated from the top-flight.
Fernandes might well need that cash injection because QPR are facing the prospect of a £50m fine for failing to comply with financial guidelines.
Earlier this year the west London outfit recorded a loss of £65.4m for the period ending May 2013. Clubs are only entitled to be no more than £8m in the red under Financial Fairplay rules.
However, Fernandes has been seeking legal advice and has confirmed he will fight the sanctions in court.
“Will we fight the fine? What do you think? After all we’ve been through, it’s my middle name - ‘Fight It’ Fernandes,” he said yesterday.
