15 January 2024 , 17:11
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Everton will fight the threat of ANOTHER points deduction after being hit with a second Premier League charge.
Having already been struck with a brutal ten-point penalty for not complying with profit and sustainability regulations (PSR), the club has again been referred to an independent commission for breaching the same rules in a different time period.
Everton have already protested the original ten-point sanction - which has left them just one point above the relegation zone - and the new charge will not be heard until that appeal has been settled.
The Premier League say Everton have breached PSR over the three-year 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 period. Everton will argue they are already being punished for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.
While a new independent commission will have to wait for the outcome of Everton’s current appeal to hear the latest charges, the Premier League wants the matter closed by, at the latest, May 24 - a week after the last game of the Premier League season.
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Any points deduction, though, WOULD apply to this season’s final standings, meaning Everton - and Nottingham Forest - could finish their campaign and not know what division they will be playing in next season.
Under PSR, clubs are allowed to lose a maximum of £105million over a three-year cycle. Everton have officially responded strongly to the second charge and are preparing a robust defence.
Sean Dyche's Everton team have already been docked 10 points this season (Paul Greenwood/REX/Shutterstock)The club will argue that the Premier League’s PSR are being changed later this year because they are flawed and have not taken inflation and global economic issues into account since their inception in 2014.
They will claim that they would be compliant with new rules coming into force and that they are, effectively, being punished for building a new stadium, which is expected to come in at a cost of £750million.
Everton will insist only Luton and Brighton have a healthier net spend on players over a five-year period. But the Premier League are clearly determined to be tough on PSR breaches and if the current ten-point penalty stands and Everton are hit with another, similar deduction, they will almost certainly be playing their football in the Championship next season.
Nottingham Forest have - along with Everton - been charged (Getty Images)Everton have employed top lawyer Laurence Rabinowitz KC to head up their appeal against the ten-point penalty but can only hope to get the punishment reduced rather than reversed. And then, they will have to fight this second charge.
An Everton statement read: “Everton Football Club acknowledges the Premier League’s decision to refer a breach of Profit & Sustainability rules (PSR) for the assessment period ending with the 2022/23 season to an independent Premier League commission.
“This relates to a period which covers seasons 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23. It therefore includes financial periods (2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22) for which the club has already received a 10-point sanction. The club is currently appealing that sanction.
“The Premier League does not have guidelines which prevent a club being sanctioned for alleged breaches in financial periods which have already been subject to punishment, unlike other governing bodies, including the EFL. As a result – and because of the Premier League’s new commitment to deal with such matters “in-season” – the club is in a position where it has had no option but to submit a PSR calculation which remains subject to change, pending the outcome of the appeal.
“The club must now defend another Premier League complaint which includes the very same financial periods for which it has already been sanctioned, before that appeal has even been heard. The Club takes the view that this results from a clear deficiency in the Premier League’s rules.
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“Everton can assure its fans that it will continue to defend its position during the ongoing appeal and, should it be required to do so, at any future commission – and that the impact on supporters will be reflected as part of that process.”
Manchester City, of course, are still facing a staggering 105 charges of breaching financial fair play rules, with an outcome to their case still believed to be some considerable time away. And when that outcome eventually materialises, it would be subject to appeal.