The English Premiere League hit Everton with a 10-point deduction Friday for breaking profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) during the 2021-2022 season.
The Premier League’s immediate punishment of Everton will see the team go from 14th place to 19th (second-last). Everton’s point deduction came after the club admitted to breaching PSR. However, the team and the league “remained in dispute” on the exact extent of the breach, according to the Premier League’s statement.
BREAKING! Everton have been handed a 10-point deduction by the Premier League for FFP violations pic.twitter.com/kmVLGpLtVK
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) November 17, 2023
“The Commission determined that Everton FC’s PSR Calculation for the relevant period resulted in a loss of £124.5 million [$154.7m], as contended by the Premier League, which exceeded the threshold of £105m [$114 million] permitted under the PSR,” the League said in its statement.
The PSR states Premier League teams are only allowed to lose a maximum of £105 million ($128.4 million) across a three-year period, according to The Sporting News.
Everton statistics prove the team suffered five straight years of financial losses amounting to over £430m ($535 million), according to ESPN. (RELATED: Watch Kidnapped Father Of Soccer Star Break Down After Seeing His Son Score)
The team released its own statement in response, calling the deduction “wholly disproportionate and unjust.”
“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,” Everton said.
As things stand, if the season were to end now, Everton would be relegated to the second division of English soccer.
Amid the controversy over this specific incident, Manchester City, the League’s winners last season, is awaiting punishments for allegedly breaching financial rules over 100 times since being acquired by Abu Dhabi-based City Football Group.