According to the Times.Premier League teams could write off losses caused by the pandemic and the construction of a new stadium only in the 2020/21 season (Everton is building a new stadium, which is to be ready next season). The league believed that Everton was trying to make up these losses again the following season after overstating player transfers and operating costs.
The penalty is the highest in league history.
Everton said it was “both shocked and disappointed”, called the ruling “totally disproportionate and unfair” and said it would appeal the verdict in a statement published on Friday.
“Everton maintains that it has informed the Premier League openly and transparently and that it has always respected the fairness of the process,” Everton said in a statement. “The club does not accept the finding that it did not act in good faith and does not understand that this was an allegation made by the Premier League during the course of the proceedings. Both the severity and severity of the sanction imposed by the Commission are neither a fair nor a reasonable reflection of the evidence presented.”
Previously, the league deprived teams of points from the rankings twice.
In the 1996–97 season, Middlesbrough lost three points after a game against Blackburn was unilaterally postponed because it found 23 of its players sick or injured. Middlesbrough would have finished 14th had they not been penalized; instead, it was relegated to the second tier of English football.
In 2010, the league they deducted nine points from Portsmouth after the club’s bankruptcy was announced. She was also relegated and has not returned to the Premier League since. Portsmouth currently plays in the third tier of English football.
Everton needed a 1-0 win over Bournemouth on the final day of the season last season to avoid relegation. Things have looked better this season as Everton have recorded just one defeat in their previous five Premier League games ahead of their next match on November 26 against Manchester United. Even though the season was only a third of the way finished, the deduction of points means that Everton is in at least some danger of relegation for the first time since 1953–1954 (the bottom three teams in the final Premier League table are relegated to the second division).
Premier League club Manchester City also faces punishment 100 alleged violations the league’s financial fair play rules for nine years, during which it won three championship titles. The allegations against Manchester City – including that the club failed to fully disclose how much it paid one of its coaches and failed to cooperate with Premier League investigators – dwarf what Everton is accused of.
