EXCLUSIVE: Middlesex handed £50,000 fine for breaching financial rules

09/11/2023 Сricket

EXCLUSIVE: Middlesex handed £50,000 fine and a suspended points deduction after breaching the ECB’s financial rules

  • The ECB have been investigating Middlesex’s finances over the summer
  • They have deemed Middlesex have breached their financial rules
  • Middlesex have been handed a wide-ranging series of punishments 

Middlesex have been given a suspended points deduction and fined £50,000 for breaching the ECB’s financial rules by spending money allocated for youth and grassroots cricket on their professional set-up at Lord’s. 

Mail Sport has learned that the ECB accused Middlesex of spending beyond their means by diverting some of the central funding they receive for player pathways and the recreational game towards the first-team, with the club accepting a wide-ranging series of punishments.

The ECB have been scrutinising Middlesex’s finances all summer as a result of the county’s heavy reliance on central funding, with their most recent accounts showing that £4.7million of their £6.6m income came from the governing body, an extraordinary figure of more than 70 per cent. 

As a result of this probe the ECB are understood to have discovered a series of financial irregularities in the club’s accounts going back several years, although accepted that they sprang from poor governance rather than an attempt to deliberately cheat.

In a statement released on Monday night the ECB confirmed a series of wide-ranging sanctions, including suspended points deductions worth one win in the County Championship, the One Day Cup and the T20 Blast suspended until October 2025, a £50,000 fine with a further £100,000 levy suspended for 12 months and the imposition of a business plan monitored by the governing body.

Middlesex have been fined £50,000 for spending money allocated to their youth and grassroots cricket on their professional set-up at Lord’s

They have also received a suspended points deduction, with ECB chief executive Richard Gould (pictured) explaining ‘appropriate action’ had to be taken following the breaches

The business plan includes strict spending limits on player costs, the requirement to make annual profits and gives the ECB the right to attend Middlesex Board meetings. The club’s accounts for 2020/21 showed a loss of £952,000 so turning a profit will prove a huge challenge.

“We have agreements in place with all our county cricket clubs and county cricket boards to ensure that ECB funding is used appropriately and for the purposes in which is it intended,” said ECB chief executive Richard Gould. “Where breaches of our Regulations and Agreements take place it is right that we take appropriate action.

“It is vital that all our members have the necessary governance arrangements in place to ensure ECB funding is used appropriately.”

Middlesex have accepted their punishment and pledged to improve their financial management moving forward.

“Middlesex is determined to ensure that the financial management and governance of the club going forward is of the highest standard and we are resolved to work closely with ECB to ensure that this is the case,” said chief executive Andrew Cornish.

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