Leicester City has told its employees that they would not be paid in December, but this is supposedly unrelated to the club’s ongoing financial woes.
Leicester City’s return to the EFL Championship hasn’t been as smooth as they had planned, with off-field troubles looming over the club like a dark cloud. Foxes’ employees have not been informed that they will not receive their expected pay before Christmas.
According to John Percy of X, Leicester has provoked controversy by alerting their employees that they will not be paid for December before Christmas, but argue it is not due to financial reasons.
The Foxes are already awaiting a six-point deduction for allegedly violating PSR standards during the 2023/24 season, when they last competed in the Championship.
This news will come as a disappointment to many at the club; just as the Foxes had begun to find form under Spanish manager Marti Cifuentes, another undesirable issue has arisen to damper spirits once more.
Leicester City will not pay its employees before Christmas, as predicted.
The Foxes are again facing criticism for failing to pay employees before Christmas, as was planned.
Indeed, Leicester won the Premier League and competed in the Champions League less than a decade ago, but they are presently dealing with continuing financial troubles off the pitch, causing controversy within their own staff, and are unlikely to launch a genuine promotion drive.
A six-point deduction has hung over the club for some time now, and it is a formality that the Foxes will suffer that penalty for violating PSR rules two years ago.
Indeed, Foxes employees will get paid eventually, but the traditional Christmas payment has been postponed, with the club now having “aligned payroll dates across the King Power Group”.
In an email sent to colleagues, Kamonthip Netthanomsak, the interim managing director, wrote: “Hi everybody. You should have received an email regarding the alignment of payroll dates across the King Power Group.
“We recognize that the timing of this decision is not ideal, and that employees may have financial obligations they were planning to meet with the benefit of an earlier pay day before Christmas.”
“Should any staff require particular support in this regard, the process will be treated in confidence and we will do our best to provide support where it is needed.”
It appears to be an unfortunate situation that simply required a longer notice period, but with the club’s problems already in full swing and the club finally starting to produce results on the field, this news will be damning to many around the club and, at best, deflate the atmosphere.
Leicester’s decision to defer payment to personnel may significantly backfire, both on and off the field.
Leicester have not had it easy since their return to the division, and neither has head coach Marti Cifuentes.
The Foxes added only one permanent player this summer, 40-year-old goalkeeper Asmir Begovic on a free transfer, with Aaron Ramsey, Julian Carranza, and Jordan James all joining on loan for the season.
This has left the club with many of the players who suffered during their relegation campaign, unable to replace much of the squad’s core, despite the departures of Wilfried Ndidi, Jamie Vardy, and Bilal El Khannouss.
The decision to postpone employee paychecks is unlikely to be well accepted, as the holiday season is frequently the busiest and most expensive time of year.
Had the club properly prepared for this outcome and given much more notice, the news would not have been so damning, but with less than a week until Christmas, it certainly isn’t the Christmas miracle that club staff had hoped for, and it could have a disastrous effect both on and off the pitch for Leicester.
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