THE EFL dropped a bombshell on League One last night after it announced new sanctions which could relegate Derby County to the division and restore Wycombe Wanderers’ Championship status.

The league issued a statement at 11.50pm confirming that the two clubs will be given an interchangeable set of fixtures while disciplinary action continues against the Rams.

A £100,000 fine has been dished out to the Pride Park club over amortisation of player registrations and it has also been ordered to file restated accounts for financial years ending June 30 2016 and 2017 along with Financial Fair Play paperwork for 2018.

Derby were initially charged in January 2020 with two breaches of the EFL's FFP rules. The first was that they had exceeded the league's cap on financial losses with the £81 million sale of Pride Park to a company set up by club owner Mel Morris in 2018.

The second charge related to how the club recorded the value of its players, an accountancy practice known as ‘amortisation’. The EFL claimed the club changed the method of calculating this figure without informing the league, thus falling foul of the rules.

Although the club were initially cleared last August, the EFL successfully appealed part of the verdict in September – and argument over when any points sanctions could and should be applied have continued for months.

If any potential EFL point deductions are applied to last season’s total, Derby could be relegated into League One, replacing Wycombe.

Last night’s EFL statement read: “An independent Disciplinary Commission has delivered its verdict on sanctions for Derby County relating to ongoing disciplinary proceedings.

“In May, an Independent League Arbitration Panel ruled that the Disciplinary Commission was wrong to dismiss the League’s expert accountancy evidence, which demonstrated that the Club’s policy regarding the amortisation of player registrations was contrary to standard accounting rules.

“More specifically, the panel determined that the Club’s policy was not in accordance with accounting standard FRS102 because it failed to accurately reflect the manner in which the Club takes the benefit of player registrations over the lifetime of a player’s contract.

“Tonight, the Disciplinary Commission has announced that the sanction to be imposed in respect of those breaches, is a financial penalty of £100,000 to be paid to the EFL and a reprimand for the Club as to its future conduct regarding the preparation of its Annual Accounts.

“In addition, the Club has also been ordered to file restated accounts for financial years ending 30 June 2016, 2017 and 2018 that meet the requirements of FRS102, together with updated Profit & Sustainability calculations if necessary.

“Both Derby County and the EFL have the right to appeal that sanction decision.

“That being the case, ahead of the publication of the 2021/22 season fixture lists on 24 June at 9am, the EFL can confirm that it has developed an interchangeable fixture list for Derby County and Wycombe Wanderers, while the disciplinary process is finalised.

“The fixture list for both the Championship and League One will be published in full based on the 2020/21 final standings, pending any appeals relating to this decision.”