The same independent commission which imposed Everton’s 10-point penalty for breaching the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) will also decide if other clubs should receive compensation relating to the case.
Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Southampton, Leicester City and Burnley made applications to the commission to establish whether they could be entitled to compensation relating to Everton’s potential breach.
The chair of the commission, David Phillips KC, determined that those five clubs “have potential claims for compensation” in May, a decision which was published by the Premier League last Friday when announcing Everton’s points deduction. Phillips added that the clubs have 28 days from receiving the decision to tell the commission whether they individually wish to pursue a claim for compensation.
Everton’s breach concerns the PSR calculation for the three-year reporting period which ended in the 2021-22 season. Burnley were relegated that year, finishing 18th and three points behind 16th-placed Everton — if the Merseyside club’s points deduction had been applied that season, Burnley would have stayed up at their expense.
Leeds, Southampton and Leicester, meanwhile, were relegated last season, while Everton finished 17th. Everton were referred to the commission by the Premier League in March and had the decision come before the end of the 2022-23 campaign, 19th-placed Leeds and 18th-placed Leicester would have leapfrogged them. However, only Leicester would have stayed up, with Leeds still finishing in the relegation places. Forest came 16th, one place above Everton, while Southampton finished bottom.
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The Premier League argued that Everton had losses of £124.5million ($155.2m) over the three-year period, exceeding the limit of £105m allowed under the PSRs. Everton accepted that they had breached PSRs, but only by £9.7m, and argued that they were mitigating circumstances for this.
A hearing relating to the allegations took place over five days in October, with the commission including Phillips, Judge Alan Greenwood and Nick Igoe, West Ham United’s former financial director.
After being referred to the commission, Everton said they would “robustly defend” their position. They are planning to appeal against the points deduction, which they called “wholly disproportionate and unjust”, and expect to do so later this week.
As it stands, Everton have fallen five places in the league table and sit 19th on four points, above Burnley only on goal difference.
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