Financial rule breaches costs Everton 10 penalty point deductions

10 penalty points have been deducted from Everton after being found guilty of breaching Premier League financial fair play rules, the biggest docking in the history of the PL competition. 

The penalty results in the Toffees dropping to second bottom, two points from safety.  The professional club, who had denied any wrongdoing, believed a sporting chastising for an accountancy issue is inappropriate and have informed the league they intend to appeal. The club stated it was “shocked and utterly disappointed”   

Leeds, Burnley and Leicester have earlier written to Everton’s prospective new owners, 777 Partners , warning they intended to sue for the damages caused in the event of a guilty verdict. All three clubs in the last two seasons when Everton narrowly escaped. 

The Everton case was presented in front of an independent commission following an audit of Premier League clubs' fiscal records for the 21-22’ season. In 2022 , Burnley and Leeds appealed to the Premier League to question whether Everton had broken the rules.

As per the PL rules, franchises/clubs are allowed to lose a maximum of £105m over the three years- and clubs who break its profitability and sustainability rules and can be fined. 

According to an Everton statement: “The club believes that the commission has imposed a wholly disproportionate and unjust sporting sanction … 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 Premier League cited via a statement: “During the proceedings, the club admitted it was in breach of the PSRs for the period ending season 2021-22 but the extent of the breach remained in dispute.

“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 £124.5m, as contended by the Premier League, which exceeded the threshold of £105m permitted under the PSRs.”