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QPR's claim that the Financial Fair Play Rules under competition law in 2012 were unlawful has been dismissed by an Arbitral Panel.

They have also found that the fine levied by the EFL on Rangers were not disproportionate with the decision of the three-man panel being released to the parties on October 19.

The club will be appealing the decision, but what does this all mean and where do the west London side go from here?

We'll be answering your questions on everything FFP, including what the Hoops were appealing in the first place as well as where the club go from here.

Use the form below to send your questions to our reporters who will do their best to answer them as we provide full reaction to the story.

Key Events

This FFP issue is set to rumble on and on. While the ruling today brings up more questions than answers, we’re unlikely to get answers any time soon. Could be a year before this eventually sorts itself out...

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FFP explained

We’ve got a little video explaining just what FFP is and what it means for you above.

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Here’s how QPR fans have reacted to the announcement

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Paul asks: Doesn’t it appear strange to anyone else that a system brought in to stop clubs spending beyond their means is more likely to put clubs in financial difficulties than the actual original spend?

Aside from this, QPR have been haunted by the spending made in the 2011-14 era and have been looking to trim the budget since then. The club have wanted to trim the likes of Steven Caulker, Nedum Onuoha off the wage bill since relegation back to the Championship but have been unable to because of their wages. The financial mismanagement of the club until after the summer of 2014 has caused this issue in my opinion.

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QPR are used to being involved in legal wranglings over the last decade. The first involved the future of then owner Flavio Briatore. The Italian was banned for life from F1 for race fixing after Nelson Piquet Jr was instructed to deliberately crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, which allowed Fernando Alonso to come through to win. Under the fit and proper persons rules in place at the time he would have been ruled ineligble, however he won an appeal through the French courts, much to former FIA head Max Mosley’s chagrin. The second involved Rangers’ promotion to the Premier League in 2011 with the league due to controversies over Alejandro Faurlin’s contract

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Conor Wells asks Do you think that there is a threat that the case could end up causing the Club to go bankrupt?

In the long run, yes. In the short term, though, there are still likely to be several avenues for the club to go down before it reaches that point. These could include the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) or even the High Court or European Court as well.

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Tony Cahillane asks: Am I correct in thinking the club lost the original appeal , and this arbitration panel was ruling on that??

QPR have argued against the fine for the last two years and the arbitration panel has ruled a figure that QPR will be fined.

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Speaking of what has happened to other clubs to breach FFP - here’s a list detailing them

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Mark Dudfield asks: Whats the realistic worst case and best case scenarios from this outcome?

The worst case is the fine cripples QPR financially for many years and could even result in them dropping down through the divisions. The best case scenario is the club are able to negotiate a much lower fine than what they are currently facing. Other clubs have been punished for breaching Financial Fair Play to a lesser degree with transfer embargoes. QPR will not get off scot free as the likes of Bournemouth, who have previously been fined, could, theoretically, then take legal action against the league.

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1. The fine is currently undisclosed but understood to be north of £40million with the formula suggesting a figure of £58million

2. No fine will be paid until all avenues of appeal are exhausted

3. At this stage, we’d say no due to the fact that the rules have now changed

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Other clubs have been punished for FFP breaches - we have detailed them here

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Fansite LoftForWords reacts

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Figures queried

Ed Thompson, one of the leading experts on Financial Fair Play, and runs the website www.financialfairplay.co.uk.

He queried the announcement of the £9.8m writing: “Rather than reporting a loss of £9.8m, QPR should have reported a loss of around £67m.

“Rather than reducing, the club losses should actually have increased! Readers may be puzzled as to why the figures are so far out – well over £50m.

“The only way QPR could have reported a loss of £9.8m is if their income was £50m-£60m higher than can reasonably be explained.

“Well, remember that £60m of loans mentioned in the Press Release that the owners generously cancelled?

“It seems highly likely that QPR have effectively accounted for that £60m loan cancellation as ‘Income’.

“To be more accurate they will have classed the cancelled loan as an ‘exceptional’ item in the P&L account which would have delivered a one-off increase in income.”

The EFL, or Football League at the time, noted this discrepancy and this is where the argument has been raging.

Their statement at the time read: “The Football League notes the statement made earlier today by Queens Park Rangers regarding its annual accounts for the year ending May 31, 2014.

“The treatment of certain items in those accounts, and how the League’s FFP rules should be applied to them, remains a matter of ongoing discussion between QPR and the Football League.

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Loans

QPR’s accounts in May 2014 saw them post a loss of £9.8million for the year with expenditure reduced by £22million.

However, the crux of the matter appears to relate to the club’s shareholders writing off £60m worth of loan.

A club statement at the time read: “QPR filed its accounts for the year ending May 2014 showing the club posted a loss for the year of £9.8m.

“Expenditure was reduced by £22m mainly driven by lower player costs and this trend will continue in future years as the club will continue to bring losses down.

“In addition the club’s shareholders reiterated their long term support for the club by strengthening the club’s balance sheet by writing off £60m of shareholder loans.

“The club’s shareholders and directors are of the opinion that the club is moving in the right direction and on track with its mid-term and long-term business plans.

“The impact of relegation and promotion inevitably has a material impact on the short-term financial results of clubs but the shareholders are comfortable that the medium-term outlook is positive with Premier League revenues growing and the club’s costs continuing to fall.”

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So, what is this all about then?

This relates to QPR winning promotion from the Championship in 2014. The Rs had the largest budget in the division by a country mile under the management of Harry Redknapp. They scrambled their way to promotion glory at Wembley with Bobby Zamora’s 90th minute winner against Derby. However, they were relegated the following season, which meant they were back under the EFL’s management. There had been talk whether they would be allowed back into the EFL but they obviously were granted permission to play in the Championship.

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So, what has actually happened? Here’s the full story with the statement from the EFL and QPR.

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Welcome

Hello and welcome to our live blog after QPR’s appeal over a breach of FFP was dismissed by the EFL. We will be bringing you all the reaction from the announcement as well as the background to the case.

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