February 26 – Everton’s punishment for breaching Premier League financial rules has been reduced from 10 points to six on appeal.
Everton were sanctioned on November 17 for a breach of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) and had an appeal heard over three days, which concluded at the start of February.
The club had been found to have exceeded permitted losses by £19.5 million over an assessment period ending with the 2021-22 season.
The punishment – the biggest in Premier League history – dropped Everton to a perilous 19th in the table. The reduction in the ban lifts them from their current place of 17th to 15th on 25 points – five points above the bottom three.
An Everton statement read: “While the club is still digesting the Appeal Board’s decision, we are satisfied our appeal has resulted in a reduction in the points sanction.”
“We understand the Appeal Board considered the 10-point deduction originally imposed to be inappropriate when assessed against the available benchmarks of which the club made the commission aware, including the position under the relevant EFL regulations, and the nine-point deduction that is imposed under the Premier League’s own rules in the event of insolvency.
“The club is also particularly pleased with the Appeal Board’s decision to overturn the original Commission’s finding that the club failed to act in utmost good faith. That decision, along with reducing the points deduction, was an incredibly important point of principle for the club on appeal. The Club, therefore, feels vindicated in pursuing its appeal.”
The Premier League commented: “Everton FC appealed the sanction imposed against it on nine grounds, each of which related to the sanction rather than the fact of the breach, which the club admitted.”
“Two of those nine grounds were upheld by the appeal board, which has substituted the original points deduction of 10 for six.”
Whilst the decision offers an immediate boost to a club that has been engulfed in off-the-pitch controversy, it does not end the uncertainty with a second case against the Toffees due to be heard in the coming months.
But it is a significant verdict for one of the Premier League’s most iconic clubs who have not won in the league for nine matches and have been fighting tooth and nail to get out of the drop zone.
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