Everton have been deducted 10 points by an independent commission for a breach of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules.
It is the biggest sporting sanction in Premier League history and takes place immediately, meaning Everton drop from 14th to joint bottom, only above bottom side Burnley on goal difference.
The Toffees have already indicated that they intend to appeal the decision. The appeal will be to an Independent Appeals Commission, with a ruling expected to happen well before the end of the current season.
A statement on the Premier League website read:
Following a five-day hearing last month, the Commission determined that Everton FC’s PSR Calculation for the relevant period resulted in a loss of £124.5million, as contended by the Premier League, which exceeded the threshold of £105million permitted under the PSRs. The Commission concluded that a sporting sanction in the form of a 10-point deduction should be imposed. That sanction has immediate effect.
Everton responded with a strongly-worded statement of their own, which read –
Everton Football Club is both shocked and disappointed by the ruling of the Premier League’s Commission.
The club believes that the Commission has imposed a wholly disproportionate and unjust sporting sanction. The club has already communicated its intention to appeal the decision to the Premier League. The appeal process will now commence and the club’s case will be heard by an Appeal Board appointed pursuant to the Premier League’s rules in due course.
Everton maintains that it has been open and transparent in the information it has provided to the Premier League and that it has always respected the integrity of the process. The club does not recognise the finding that it failed to act with the utmost good faith and it does not understand this to have been an allegation made by the Premier League during the course of proceedings. Both the harshness and severity of the sanction imposed by the Commission are neither a fair nor a reasonable reflection of the evidence submitted.
The club will also monitor with great interest the decisions made in any other cases concerning the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules.
The Toffees were charged and referred to an independent commission in March for an alleged breach of FFP rules.
The Toffees posted a deficit of £44.7m in 2021-22, taking their total losses over the past five years to £430m, with clubs only permitted to lose £105m over a three-year period.
However, there were allowances relating to Covid and Everton said the deductions in line with those allowances brought them within the permitted losses.
Here is interim CEO Colin Chong expressing his disappointment on the decision taken –
