Leeds United have been directly affected by teams around them cheating in recent seasons.

The 2023/24 campaign ended in heartbreak for Leeds, as they were defeated in the play-off final by Southampton. However, one of the teams they were directly competing against throughout the season for automatic promotion was Leicester.

The Foxes were found guilty of breaching PSR rules that season. But this is not the only time it has happened to Leeds.

When Leeds were relegated from the Premier League in 2023, two of the teams around them, Everton and Nottingham Forest, were also guilty of breaching PSR rules, with both of them staying up at our expense.

As a result, United are understandably contemplating legal action. However, this decision appears to have upset a former Premier League CEO.

Keith Wyness urges Leeds not to take legal action against other clubs

This whole can of worms opened after Everton were ordered to pay Burnley £35million as a result of their historical PSR breach. However, it is a decision that Everton are now appealing.

So understandably, Leeds are thinking about trying their luck; they certainly have a compelling case.

However, former Everton CEO Keith Wyness has urged the Whites to think twice before taking legal action against other clubs.

Speaking on Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness said: “Everybody now is reviewing these cases and stacking them up and trying to get cards to play. But there’s got to be a mechanism beyond this situation of going into the legal framework and making claims against each other.

“There’s got to be a way to fix it. It’s going to stop the ability of clubs to cooperate together for stronger points of improvement in the game because they’re all going to be involved in these bitter fights.”

Wyness continued: “It’s just not the spirit of the Premier League that I knew when I was heavily involved. I was on the board of the Premier League for a long period.

“I saw under Richard Scudamore a lot of growth that happened. That was because clubs actually did reach out to each other and did try and build bonds together.

“That whole spirit is starting to erode, and that really worries me that we’re now getting very insular, and it’s the lawyers dictating the policy of the clubs rather than the owners.

“The owners have got to get a grip on this quickly. And it’s my urgent appeal to them today to really think about this and to stop the rot of these sorts of cases going forward.”

Leeds United are not the ones in the wrong here

If Wyness wants there to stop being legal disputes in football, how about teams actually follow the rules? I know, who’d have thought!

Our relegation from the Premier League and subsequent attempt to get promoted were directly affected by teams that cheated.

I am in complete support of the 49ers taking these cases to court. Especially if they feel like they have a compelling enough case.

Wyness calling it “not in the spirit of the Premier League” to be taking legal action is just laughable.

Was it in the spirit of the game when Forest, Leicester and Everton knowingly broke the financial rules to give themselves an unfair advantage on the pitch?

Whilst we look as though we will consolidate ourselves in the Premier League now, who knows how much better off we could’ve been if we hadn’t been relegated back in 2023. Perhaps we’d already be an established mid-table side.

Wyness also claimed we should just settle with Leicester out of court for around £5million.

I think we all know that promotion to the Premier League is worth a lot more than £5million. And who’s to say that Leicester would’ve finished on 97 points that year if they had complied with the rules?

The 49ers are well within their rights to be ruthless and take these teams to court. Their underhanded tactics have directly contributed to the suffering Leeds have suffered as a club in recent years.

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