Leicester City apologise for holding staff salaries until after Christmas

Leicester City have apologised to staff after they were informed they would not receive their salaries until after Christmas – reversing a policy the club have always followed in recent years

An email sent to all staff, seen by Daily Mail Sport, said that the decision had been taken to pay staff on December 31.

The usual date for salary payments is the final day of the month, but in the past Leicester had brought this forward to allow staff to bank their December pay cheque before Christmas.

The policy applies to all staff at the club including players and management.

Leicester insist that the decision does not have any relation to the club’s financial position, which they say remains stable.

There is, however, thought to be significant unhappiness across the club with how little notice they were given about this move.

The email, believed to be from interim managing director Kamonthip Netthanomsak, was sent only on Thursday. In previous years staff would expect to have been paid either on the final Friday before Christmas or the final working day before Christmas.

It read: ‘I recognise that the earlier payment has become a valued tradition for many colleagues, and it is regrettable that I have been unable to relay this with greater notice to allow more time for your personal financial planning over the festive period.

‘Please accept my personal apologies for any inconvenience this may cause you.’

Leicester have had a turbulent time of it off the field since they were first relegated from the Premier League in 2023.

Although they won immediate promotion back to the top flight, this was followed by a second relegation in three years and now they find themselves back in the second tier once more.

To make matters more uncertain, the club are also waiting to find out whether they will receive a points deduction for breaking financial rules.

There has been speculation that if Leicester are punished, the penalty would be between six and nine points.

Fortunately for manager Marti Cifuentes, there has been an upturn in form on the pitch in recent weeks with Leicester claiming impressive wins over Derby and Ipswich as well as a draw at Bristol City.