The English Premier League announced on Friday that Everton FC is being punished with a 10-point deduction for breaching the league’s profitability and sustainability rules. An independent commission ran an investigation into the matter and made the decision to punish the club.
The punishment is the largest in the league’s 31-year history.
The Premier League brought in the commission to investigate whether Everton breached protocols for three years through the 2021-22 season. The commission found that Everton lost £124.5 million, or $155 million, over the three-year span, which exceeded the maximum number of losses allowed at £105 million, or $130 million.
With the 10-point penalty, Everton drops from 14 points and 14th place in the league to four points and 19th place in the league, which is tied with Burnley for least points in the league this season.
IMAGO/PA Images/Isaac Parkin
Everton responded to the sanctions by disagreeing with the commission’s decision and pledging to appeal the punishment.
“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,” it said in a statement. “The Club does not recognize the finding that it failed to act with the utmost good faith and it does not understand this to have been an allegation made by the Premier League during the course of proceedings. Both the harshness and severity of the sanction imposed by the Commission are neither a fair nor a reasonable reflection of the evidence submitted.”
