The uproar around FIFA’s effort to commercialise the World Cup had barely subsided when VAR disputes again became a major talking point in the opening weeks of the Premier League season. The end of PSR seemed, on the surface, to offer some short-term relief, but anyone inclined to welcome its abrupt irrelevance — including Premier League executives — should think carefully. The system replacing it, SCR, risks seriously undermining the very qualities that made England’s top flight such a success in the first place.

Some context is necessary. In November last year, Premier League clubs voted to alter the financial regulations that control their transfer business. Profit and Sustainability was removed; under that framework, clubs could post adjusted losses of up to £105m across a three-year cycle. In its place came Squad Cost Ratio, which allows clubs to spend as much as 85% of their football-related income on squad costs — specifically transfers, wages and agent fees.

There is something mildly dispiriting about how much modern football supporters now need to understand accounting language just to follow their club’s arrivals and departures, though at least amortisation has now become familiar to everyone. Even so, football cannot simply become an anything-goes market. Competitive sport depends on, if not complete equality, then at least some degree of balance. Letting clubs spend without restriction would be a formula for chaos, particularly in the age of state ownership.

PSR was a long way from ideal. Bigger clubs were already in a position to spend more than smaller ones because their established revenues were far higher. That caused frustration in many quarters, especially among ambitious clubs trying to break through the ceiling, such as Aston Villa and Newcastle.

The rules also encouraged clubs to sell academy graduates, because those exits could be recorded as pure profit in the accounts. A loophole that enabled clubs to include non-football income within their earnings was also used cynically and entirely predictably. The most glaring example was Chelsea’s sale of two hotels to a sister company controlled by their owners, an accounting manoeuvre so brazen it would have made Willy Wonka smile.

And yet SCR represents movement in the wrong direction. That previously mentioned loophole has now been shut, but the issue surrounding youth-team products has still not been solved. More concerning still, clubs in the middle tier now face an even tighter financial squeeze.

PSR’s fixed £105m limit at least provided a degree of equalisation, because every established Premier League club faced the same loss cap regardless of revenue. Under SCR, however, spending room is linked solely to revenue, which gives elite clubs even more freedom to spend heavily. The closed shop has effectively had an extra lock fitted to it.

That is not the only issue. SCR is measured season by season, unlike PSR, which assessed clubs over a three-year period. In practical terms, that leaves a Brighton or a Crystal Palace with less flexibility to keep a squad intact for two campaigns and then sell assets in the third year to bring cumulative losses back under the £105m ceiling. Ambition is being restricted before it has any opportunity to deliver results.

Admittedly, the 85% ratio is not an absolute cut-off. The Premier League describes it as a ‘green threshold’, as distinct from a ‘red threshold’, which consists of the 85% figure plus a multi-year rolling allowance of 30%. A points deduction applies only to clubs that go beyond the red threshold; crossing the green threshold results in a fine. But that extra allowance is also open to the wealthiest clubs, meaning it merely reinforces their comparative advantage.

The SCR issue is especially severe for clubs that have qualified for Europe, because they must also comply with UEFA’s tougher 70% ratio. Bournemouth, Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Brighton, all of whom are set to begin their continental campaigns soon, are under greater pressure than clubs who failed to reach the Europa League or the Conference League.

It is significant that three of those four clubs voted against SCR, joining Brentford, Fulham and Leeds. Those emerging sides recognised that the new rules would harm their chances in the years ahead. The Premier League’s marketing team may soon have to reconsider its familiar claim that “anyone can beat anyone”.

Even with PSR in place, a repeat of Leicester’s 2015/16 title win was never likely — an achievement that did not just upset the apple cart, but sent it racing down the hill. Still, clubs such as Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth have demonstrated in recent years that with smart recruitment, sharp management and a long-term strategy, it is possible not merely to survive in the Premier League but to flourish, and at times even outperform the traditional heavyweights.

The arrival of SCR makes that task more difficult. For a league that has long taken pride in its competitiveness, that is a dangerous direction of travel.