12 Mar 2011

QPR faces points deduction after breaking transfer rules

3:02 pm on 12 March 2011

The London football club Queens Park Rangers have been charged with seven counts of breaking FA transfer rules and could face a points deduction that would damage their chances of returning to the Premier League.

The west London club have been charged by the Football Association over breaches of the rules regarding agents and third-party ownership in connection with their signing of Alejandro Faurlin for $9.4 million from Argentine club Instituto de Cordoba in 2009.

The club have also been charged with using an unauthorised agent and submitting false documents when Faurlin extended his deal last year.

QPR are seven points clear at the top of the Championship and chasing the automatic promotion spot.

If found guilty QPR face a range of penalties from a fine to a points deduction, with the latter option likely to have a major impact on their bid to return to the top flight for the first time since 1996.