EFL Announce They Have Rejected Premier League's £50m Bailout

The EFL have rejected the Premier League's £50m bailout for League One and League Two clubs, with the Championship fuming about being left out of the proposal.

The unveiling of Project Big Picture on Sunday kickstarted an all out civil war. Under these plans, the Premier League 'Big Six' offered a £250m bailout to the EFL in exchange for increased power to shape English football moving forward.

Project Big Picture has since been dismissed by both top flight clubs and the FA, after being criticised by the Football Supporters' Association and a host of top journalists.

Since then, the Premier League has offered the EFL a £50m bailout, but this has also been rejected. Although the bailout comes with no strings attached, the exclusion of Championship clubs from the emergency grant has led to the deal being roundly dismissed by each of the three divisions.

"The need for continued unity across the membership base was fundamental to discussions across all three divisions, and therefore there was a strong consensus that any rescue package must meet the requirements of all 72 Clubs before it can be considered in full," an official EFL statement read.

"The League has been very clear in its discussions of the financial requirements needed to address lost gate receipts in 2019/20 and 2020/21, and while EFL Clubs are appreciative that a formal proposal has now been put forward, the conditional offer of £50m falls some way short of this.

"The EFL is keen to continue discussions with the Premier League to reach an agreeable solution that will address the short-term financial needs of all of our Clubs and allow us the ability to consider the longer-term economic issues in parallel that specifically look to achieve a more sustainable EFL for the future."

The statement suggests that EFL clubs are open to discussing some of the proposals laid out in Project Big Picture - but only after their immediate financial security has been assured.