Everton, who fell down the Premier League table after receiving a record 10-point deduction in November, face the prospect of a second points penalty for fresh breaches of the competition's financial regulations.
Everton confirmed the new case in a statement on Monday, as did a second team, Nottingham Forest, which was accused of its own violations of the league's so-called profit and sustainability regulations. The rules were drawn up to prevent teams from overspending and risking their financial future to maintain their places in the Premier League, one of the richest national sporting competitions in the world.
The Premier League said the cases would be heard by separate committees, behind closed doors, that would operate independently of the league. Those commissions, he said, would determine penalties, which could include fines, point deductions or other restrictions.
For Everton, a founding member of the Premier League now teetering on the brink of financial collapse, the new charges could not come at a worse time. A deal to sell the club to US private investment firm 777 Partners remains in doubt months after the club's current owner, British-Iranian businessman Farhad Moshiri, announced the sale last year.
Any sanction also significantly increases the risk of Everton and Forest facing a financially ruinous relegation from the Premier League at the end of the season, when each year the bottom three teams are relegated to the second division Championship. Forest currently sit 15th in the 20-team Premier League, two places above Everton. A serious points penalty, if applied, would immediately drop them to the bottom three.
Everton, in a statement, acknowledged the new charges but criticized the Premier League process, which it said threatened to punish the team for a second time before its appeal of the first points deduction was heard. “The club considers this to be due to a clear deficiency in the Premier League rules,” the club said.
“Everton can assure its fans that it will continue to defend its position during the ongoing appeal and, if necessary, at any future commission, and that the impact on fans will be reflected as part of that process,” Everton said. saying.
The cases against Everton, a founding member of the Premier League that was last relegated in 1951, and Forest, a former two-time European champion, are part of the league's new regulations on how to handle financial cases. An expedited process was created last year amid long-standing complaints about the sometimes glacial pace at which the league concludes investigations into its teams, which include some of the world's richest clubs.
Under the revised rules, the league requires its 20 teams to provide updated financial data by Dec. 31, and then has 14 days to consider any noncompliance. The cases against Everton and Forest are due to conclude, including appeals, by the end of May, allowing sanctions to be applied on the teams' points for the current season.
Everton had already been hit with a 10-point penalty, the largest in Premier League history, in November, sparking the ire of many of the club's fans who claim they have been unfairly targeted. The league remains under pressure to conclude a year-long case involving serial champion Manchester City, which was accused last year of 115 rule violations, and a more recent one against Chelsea, which last year reported transfer-related payments. made by its previous owner, the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
The new expedited financial investigation process is only for violations of financial stability regulations. Under those rules, clubs must keep losses below a maximum of 105 million pounds (about $133 million) over a three-year period.
Losses allowed to Forest were limited to £61 million (around $77 million) because during the first two seasons of the evaluation period the team was playing in the Championship.
In a brief statement, Nottingham Forest said: “The club intends to continue to cooperate fully with the Premier League in this matter and is confident of a swift and fair resolution.”
