What we know about Chelsea, Man City and Everton cases after Prem take action
Everton deducted 10 points in record-breaking punishment
Chelsea and Manchester City will be looking nervously over their shoulders after Everton were handed a 10-point deduction for allegedly breaching Premier League profit and sustainability rules. The Toffees were rocked by Friday’s ruling, which marked the biggest sporting sanction handed down to a club in Premier League history and saw them slip from 14th place to 19th in the table.
Everton are expected to submit an appeal later this week in order to challenge the landmark decision, with those in power at Goodison Park adamant that they were punished too harshly. The club’s interim CEO Colin Chong reacted strongly by labelling the decision as ‘unprecedented and disproportionate’ in a video statement on social media.
The Toffees were said to have put forward several mitigating factors at their five-day hearing last month but the independent commission sided with the Premier League regardless. The rules include a requirement that teams must not lose more than £105m over a three-year period, but investigators ruled that Everton lost £124.5m during the 2021/22 season.
Burnley, Leeds and Leicester are reportedly set to launch a compensation claim against Everton, with the three clubs thought to be preparing claims totalling £100m each. This is based on the loss of earnings that being in the Premier League would have given them, with the trio all sliding into the Championship while Everton have survived relegation battles in recent years.
JUST IN: Everton face threat of fresh punishment as ‘rules could be broken again’
If they are forced to pay up a figure which could run into hundreds of millions of pounds, the club may be forced into administration, according to the Daily Mail. This would bring another points deduction, which could seriously damage their hopes of achieving Premier League survival if another punishment is handed down before the end of the season.
It has also been claimed that Everton’s prospective new owners, 777 Partners, could pull the plug on their takeover plans as a result of other clubs looking to sue the Toffees. The group are ‘not likely’ to foot the bill as they are already taking a significant financial hit in purchasing a side that is in £500m of debt, according to The Mirror.
Chelsea and Manchester City have been warned that Everton’s recent deduction may set a powerful precedent for their own punishments if they are found guilty of breaching financial rules. The Guardian have reported that Chelsea are facing scrutiny over alleged payments connected to former owner Roman Abramovich, which appear to have benefitted the club without being declared in annual accounts.
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City, meanwhile, were hit with 115 charges of allegedly breaching Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules in February after a four-year investigation, which followed the publication of leaked emails by German outlet Der Spiegel in 2018. The process is expected to take a number of years to arrive at a solid conclusion, which suggests that many of their critics will not be silenced until a binding verdict is reached.
Stefan Borson, a lawyer who has previously advised City, has already suggested that the Premier League champions and Chelsea could potentially be relegated from England’s top flight if they are found to have broken financial rules.
He wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Without seeing the judgement/award -10 points for Everton feels harsh for a straightforward FFP breach to me. But reinforces that sanctions against City (if proven) and now Chelsea (if charged and admitted on the off-books payments) will be potentially relegation inducing.”
Borson has also warned City that an ‘explosive situation’ could develop if they are found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules, with a hearing likely to take place at some point next year. He told The Sun: “There are too many things that ‘might’ happen if City are found against. It will be very serious, all hell will break loose.
“It will turn into an enormous story, not just in respect of football but much wider than that. So many parties will be implicated. It will be an incredibly explosive situation.”
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