West Brom news: Kieran Maguire stunned by £7m deal days after crowd trouble
The Premier League’s decision to gift £7million to the police after crowd trouble at West Brom is ‘very strange’.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the Premier League’s decision to strike a deal with the police while delaying their deal with the EFL.
As reported by the Daily Mail, the Premier League is set to pay £7million to the police as a ‘sweetener’ to enable high-risk fixtures to be played in lucrative television slots.
The deal was struck just days after an FA Cup fixture between West Brom and Wolves was delayed for over 30 minutes due to crowd trouble.
At the same time, the Premier League have failed to finalise their deal to provide extra funding to the EFL despite agreeing to the terms of the ‘New Deal’.
The Premier League delayed plans to provide an additional £915million to the EFL over six years.
Maguire believes the Premier League’s police deal will have fans ‘scratching their heads’.
“The £7million payment given to the police as a gift is a very strange decision made by the Premier League,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“How the amount was decided and who are going to be the beneficiaries in terms of individual police forces doesn’t appear to be detailed.
“So, I think it provides more questions than answers.
“The police do a fantastic job and are not given enough financial support – nobody is denying that.
“But fans will be scratching their heads as to how the Premier League can so quickly decide to support the police yet at the same time are dragging their heels when it comes to their deal with the EFL.“
In other news, Kieran Maguire slams ’embarrassing’ West Brom chief as £50m deal finalised
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