The Football League will this week seek clarification from the hedge fund that pushed Crystal Palace into administration about the extent of their control over player contracts, amid concerns that they could breach rules over third-party ownership, reports The Guardian. Agilo, the hedge fund that is owed £4.5m by Crystal Palace, said that it appointed administrators in the final days of the January transfer ¬window only as "a last resort" following a breakdown in relations with the club's former owner, Simon Jordan.

The administrator Brendan Guilfoyle is expected to meet with the Football League in the coming days in the hope that it will release the balance of the money collected by the club in the transfer window from the sale of Victor Moses.

Even after money has been deducted for football creditors, he has said that it will be sufficient to see the club through to the end of the season when added to the income from Palace's FA Cup run and a £1m loan advanced by Agilo.

Guilfoyle has agreed in principle with the PFA that players will defer payment of their bonuses and appearance money until the end of the season.

Without the money from the Football League, and that also held by the Football Association for the Cup run, it is believed that the club's £800,000 wage bill and other outgoings would soon take their toll.

But the League will want to be reassured that the money will go to help pay players' wages and could not be taken out of the club by Agilo as repayment for its debt.

Agilo accepted the players' contracts as security for a loan taken out by Jordan, which is believed to have around £4.5m outstanding.