Embargo

An embargo bites immediately and during the season, which is what makes it the EFL's most practical enforcement tool. A club under one cannot sign whom it likes; in many cases it can only register players within tight wage or fee limits, or on loan.

In League One and League Two it is the standard consequence of breaching SCMP: a club over its wage-to-turnover cap goes under embargo until its ratio is back inside the limit or the EFL accepts a plan.

In the Championship the same tool sits behind the SCR submissions. A club that misses a submission, breaches the rules or departs from an agreed business plan can be embargoed.

Embargoes are usually lifted once the club demonstrates compliance, so their length is a function of the club's finances rather than a fixed tariff.