Premier League's spending cap vote set for today

Premier League clubs will be asked today to "support a proposal for a cap on spending" for the first time, as a vote in principle on the cap is expected to be taken at a Premier League shareholders' meeting in London -- with "further discussions over details, such as the size of the cap, taken before" the league's Annual General Meeting in June. The proposed cap "would result in the top teams being restricted to spending on transfers, wages and agents a proportion of the amount that the bottom club receives in TV money." The idea is to "try to ensure the Premier League remains competitive" instead of "being dominated by one or two super-rich clubs." Fourteen out of 20 votes would result in the proposal being passed. Clubs are "expected to be assured that the cap would not cause any of them to reduce spending from their present level" (London TIMES, 4/28).