Rival teams will now feel the full wrath of the club and fans who feel they have been mistreated. Photo: Paul Ellis/AFP
On a rainy day for Everton, there is good news: they will remain in the Premier League this season.
The club may struggle to find a silver lining amid a dismal relegation 10 points. and it is clear that they will appeal the verdict.
However, there is consolation. If ever there was a year to suffer such punishment, this is it. There are three teams worse than Everton who seem unable to take advantage of their plight. Everton could find themselves in the bottom three next game when Manchester United visit Goodison Park and feel the wrath of a club and fans who feel they have been mistreated.
I agree with the Everton people that a 10-point penalty is extremely harsh given the circumstances.
There is no doubt that Everton have broken the rules and no one has been more critical of the way the club is run. than me. Farhad Moshiri's reign has been terrible from start to finish, assuming his sale goes through, and he bears the main responsibility for the club's predicament.
However, after all the allegations against Everton, a 10-point deduction because the club lost £19.5 million more than allowed over three years seems incredibly disproportionate.
Rules need to be followed and deterrents are needed to stop others taking unfair advantage of cost overruns, but in this case a fine or transfer embargo would be appropriate. It is difficult to understand the logic of how the club would receive a lesser punishment if it went into administration, which would result in a nine-point deduction.
If Everton were guilty of deliberately defrauding the Premier League, failing to disclose their financial difficulties, or simply lying about the amounts they were actually spending, and ” falsified the books,” I would have felt differently.
My sympathies are broad because they were the opposite of that. It is difficult to see how the Premier League could work with the club to ensure they are compliant, having seen them sign contracts such as Nathan Patterson and Vitaly Mykolenko for a combined fee of around £30m in January 2022, only to later It is believed that the club lost too much, around £20 million. Why not intervene at this moment?
The impact of interest rates on the new stadium also seems like a reasonable defense. The purpose of profit and sustainability rules must be questioned if clubs are penalized for spending on much-needed infrastructure projects designed to promote long-term financial sustainability. Everton's new stadium will be used for Euro 2028, which will benefit English football as a whole, as well as revitalize one of our biggest cities. It is unfair to punish Everton for having to pay increasingly more for their arena in the current economic climate.
The new Everton Stadium will be used at Euro 2028. Photo: Everton Football Club/PA
Of course, there will be little sympathy for Everton from other Premier League clubs, or from those who have recently been relegated to the Championship. I understand. Whether a club has breached one levy or 100, or overspent by £1 million or £100 million, a line must be drawn.
The story could take further twists if recently relegated clubs decide to take action. lawsuit for loss of earnings.
But Everton have a right to feel aggrieved given the timing of this punishment, their association with the Premier League and the prevailing feeling that they have become a political pawn. Everyone knows that the Premier League is desperately trying to dispel the idea that an independent regulator is needed to govern our game. Everton will feel like the sacrificial lamb until other clubs are prosecuted as harshly.
In this case, I'm not sure the punishment fits the crime, but as a punishment that jeopardizes the club's Premier League status -league, rather than guaranteeing relegation – as was the case a year ago – Everton can take little consolation from the fact that it happened later rather than earlier.
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