Derby County finished this season one point ahead of the Championship relegation zoneAfter the English Football League's decision not to appeal against the club's decision to fine them for their accounting policies, Derby will be playing in the Championship next season.Rams were given a 100,000-dollar fine and told by an EFL disciplinary panel to submit their accounts again.The EFL could have appealed against this verdict and requested a points deduction, which would have led to relegation.The EFL thought it was unlikely to win any appeal.The statement stated: "While the EFL disagrees that these sanctions are proportionate to the violations found, after consultation with our legal advisers, the EFL Board regrettably determined there were insufficient grounds for appeal the sanction imposed on the Independent Disciplinary Commission."While the process was being finalised, the EFL had created an interchangeable fixture listing for next season for Derby Wanderers and Wycombe Walkers. They had been one point behind Rams in the previous season.Derby was cleared last year of violating Financial Fair Play rules.The EFL appealed the decision to an independent tribunal. They won the part of the case relating to how the club valued players, called amortisation.After an arbitration panel ruled that Rams had not adhered to standard accounting rules when they submitted their original submissions, the Rams were fined 100,000 dollars.Rob Couhig, Wycombe's owner, later accused Derby of "systematic fraud" and suggested that the Rams be punished for "years and years of violating the rules".AnalyseSimon Stone, BBC SportThis extremely complicated case centered on whether Derby intentionally tried to gain an advantage by changing their method of accounting for players in financial accounts. This is usually done by reducing each player's value in equal amounts over the length of their contract. Then they attempted to hide what they did by failing to notify EFL fast enough.The EFL agreed and demanded a deduction of points.Derby argued their case, and the panel agreed with them. They decided it would be "whollydisproportionate" to impose points deductions and also wrote reasons saying that they could not conclude that the club had gained an advantage.EFL had no room to appeal the conclusion. This was expected given that the 52-page summary of the hearing made it impossible for the panel to claim they had made a mistake.The EFL is frustrated, and Derby is at least able move on from a problem that has been hanging over them for 18 long months.It is reasonable to assume that a rule change will not allow any other club to follow the same path as Derby. They will need to submit their accounts for 2016/2017 and 2018 in the normal way by 18 Aug. Knowing they will be penalized if they violate profit and sustainability rules.Any decision in that case or any other will not have any effect on the 2021-22 season. Derby will be playing in the Championship, Wycombe in League One.Additionally, the Rams should be able submit their subsequent accounts that have been delayed by this case's outcome.
