The Premier League has rejected calls from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) for clubs to pay more towards matchday policing costs.

Figures released following a freedom of information request by the BBC show that police forces incurred a shortfall of £3.2m as a result of policing 13 out of the 20 Premier League clubs.

Under existing legislation, all football clubs are required to pay for policing inside the stadium and on club property. But assistant chief constable Stephen Thomas, ACPO's leading figure on football-related matters, said that the shortfall is taking money away from local communities as resources are used outside the stadium and in city centres on matchdays.

A spokesperson for the Premier League said that any move to increase clubs' funding obligation towards policing costs would be unfair. He said: "The law is quite clear – clubs pay for any policing inside the ground and on immediately adjacent property under their control on matchday.

"Any other provision deemed necessary is covered by the state. It’s what people pay their taxes for, with the Premier League alone contributing more that £700m a year to the Treasury, let alone the tax take from the 13 million fans who attend Premier League games during the course of a season."

The Premier League also pointed out that over the past 15 years, clubs have invested in measures such as CCTV and stewarding to reduce the strain on police.

But Thomas believes that football clubs should be paying more. He said: "We currently charge for officers on duty inside the football ground and for areas controlled by the football club. If we are bringing large numbers of officers into city centres to fulfil football duties before and after a game then the police should be able to claim back the cost."

Out of the figures released for the 13 Premier League clubs, only Portsmouth FC were said to have met all the costs for matchday policing in 2007-8.