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West Brom could be given a points deduction that relegates them from the Championship after the season has finished as the club contest charges of breaching the English Football League’s profit and sustainability (P&S) rules.

With the Championship league season concluding on 2 May the EFL is running out of time to hear the charges against West Brom, which relate to an alleged breach of the £39m loss limit in the three-year period culminating in the 2024-25 season. EFL sanctioning guidelines state that any punishment for a P&S breach must be applied in the campaign after it took place, which in West Brom’s case means this season, but the rulebook does not give a definitive cutoff point so it is unclear when the season ends.

The situation is complicated by the fact that West Brom are in the middle of a Championship relegation battle, with James Morrison’s side two points clear of third-bottom Oxford United with four games remaining, so even a small points deduction could send them down to League One. As well as the final round of league games there are alternative interpretations of when the season finishes, such as the Championship playoff final on 23 May or even the publication of next season’s fixtures on 25 June, with the latter date having a significant historical precedent which could give the EFL leeway to conclude the case.

In 2021 Derby were fined £100,000 by an independent commission for financial irregularities the night before the following season’s fixtures were published on 24 June, with the EFL reserving the right to appeal and push for a points deduction. Derby’s position that season was similar to West Brom’s current plight, with Wayne Rooney’s side avoiding relegation to League One by a single point at the end of the 46-match league campaign.

As a result the EFL took the extraordinary step of arranging what it described as an “interchangeable fixture list” for Derby and Wycombe, who had been relegated to League One, while it considered whether to appeal.

The EFL made it clear it was unhappy with the independent commission’s decision to limit Derby’s punishment to a fine, but on 2 July announced that the board had “regrettably” concluded there was insufficient grounds to appeal. Derby began the following season in the Championship as a result, but were docked 21 points during that campaign for further P&S breaches and entering administration, which resulted in relegation the following year.

West Brom are determined to fight the charges and insist they have complied with P&S rules despite recorded combined losses of £55.6m since 2022, although that figure does not include the deductions that are permitted for spending on infrastructure and community projects. Any sporting sanction imposed by an independent commission following the end of the league campaign would almost certainly lead to an appeal from West Brom and have significant legal ramifications.

West Brom’s dispute with the EFL is understood to centre on its financial reporting unit’s treatment of the club’s interest payments on loans taken out to provide working capital during the lengthy sale process which resulted in Shilen Patel buying out Chinese businessman Guochuan Lai two years ago. Everton’s clash with the Premier League over interest payments related to the building of their new stadium was central to their profit and sustainability rules charges, which led to them being docked 10 points three years ago, reduced to six on appeal.

The alleged breach was first reported by the Daily Telegraph on Monday, with West Brom responding with the short statement that “the club considers that it has fully complied with the P&S rules and will continue to cooperate with the EFL’s club financial reporting unit”.

The EFL and West Brom declined to comment when contacted.