Leeds United, Blackburn and Nottingham Forest have been handed transfer bans for the upcoming January window after breaching the Football league’s financial fair play (FFP) rules.

The League announced that the clubs had incurred financial losses in excess of the £8 million permitted during last season.

A statement from the Football League reads: “An initial analysis of FFP submissions from the current 24 Championship clubs has indicated that three clubs – Blackburn Rovers, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest – have failed to meet the fair play requirement under the division’s FFP rules.”

“Consequently, all three will be subject to an ‘FFP embargo’ under Football League regulations from January 1, 2015 for the remainder of the current campaign.”

Under the transfer embargoes, the three clubs will be prohibited from signing any new players – either on a permanent basis or loan deal – unless they have 24 or fewer ‘established players’, which is described as 24 players aged 21 or over that have made at least five starts for the club.

The clubs will have their embargoes lifted at the end of the season if they can demonstrate they have stayed within the maximum permitted losses of £6 million – £3 million losses plus £3 million covered by shareholder investment – for the current season.

Newly promoted Premier League sides Queen Park Rangers, Leicester City and Burnley will now have their finances evaluated by the Football League in order to see that they adhered to FFP rules.