Everton were deducted 10 points by the Premier League for breaching Profit and Sustainability Rules. Daniel Wales spoke to Will Rooney about the punishment and what it could mean.
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00:00 I first asked Will to outline the Everton situation and how the decision by the Premier
00:06 League to award this punishment had occurred for them.
00:09 Well, for breaching a financial ruin of the Premier League profit and sustainability rules
00:15 in the 2021/22 season, it was after the club posted its accounts, I think it was combined
00:22 losses over three years of £372 million and Premier League rules only allow over a three-year
00:29 period a maximum of £105 million. Everton robustly defended themselves. They said they
00:36 were working with the Premier League throughout, but they were obviously hit with the charge
00:40 and the independent commissioners decided to slap them with a 10-point deduction, which
00:45 I think has caused a seismic reaction across football.
00:50 I think the last point deduction was Portsmouth in 2009/2010 when they went into administration.
00:56 That was a nine-point deduction. I think Mizzlesborough has a points deduction in the past and Arsenal
01:02 and United have one for Brawl. But in terms of financial rules, this is definitely unprecedented.
01:09 I don't think anyone thought that it would be as severe as it is if it was going to be
01:13 a points deduction.
01:15 I then wanted to make clear whether this punishment had caught Everton off guard and what their
01:20 plans were moving forward in terms of appealing the league's decision.
01:26 I think so. I think Everton have known they're in a sticky position for a while when it comes
01:32 to finance. I think everyone knows that it's well documented the managerial changes and
01:37 the money on players' transfers that was wasted on so many of them. They were trying to accelerate
01:43 themselves to the top, trying to go from being pretenders who are just always on the cusp
01:50 of maybe looking like they might break in to really accelerate and it backfires. I mean
01:56 Everton, not this season but the past two seasons, have regressed on the pitch. They
02:01 can't deny that. Those two relegation battles, it only just stays up. But they've been working
02:06 with the Premier League. When they've been making transfers in the past, they have been
02:11 working with them to see if it was okay to do these deals. So I think that's why Everton
02:16 were shocked when they were hit with the charge initially. And yeah, obviously, as I say,
02:21 I think if Everton had been given maybe even a six-pointers option, there'd be a few grumbles
02:27 but maybe think, right, we lick our wounds and we go from there. We have a siege mentality
02:32 but 10 points puts them right back into the mire really. Joint bottom now with the Premier
02:38 League after being eight points clear of the relegation zone. It's a sticky situation for Everton.
02:45 Everton have been punished for one rule breach, which now begs the question as to what sort
02:50 of a penalty Manchester City could face with their 115 charges should they be found guilty.
02:56 Chelsea too are being looked at, with the Premier League attempting to demonstrate its
03:01 ability to self-govern.