Everton have been deducted 10 points for breaches of profit and sustainability rules, the Premier League has said.
The penalty, effective immediately, leaves the club with four points and plunges them into the relegation zone.
The Merseyside club said it was “shocked and disappointed” by the “wholly disproportionate” ruling and plans to appeal.
It comes after the league referred Everton in March to an independent commission after reviewing the financial records of all top-flight clubs for the 2021-22 season.
According to the rules, clubs can sustain losses of up to £105m in three years or potentially face penalties.
However, Everton FC reported losses of £124.5m for the relevant period.
Image: Everton have dropped into the relegation zone after being docked 10 points
Everton FC said in a statement after the points deduction: “The club believes that the commission has imposed a wholly disproportionate and unjust sporting sanction.
“The club has already communicated its intention to appeal the decision to the Premier League. The appeal process will now commence and the club’s case will be heard by an Appeal Board appointed pursuant to the Premier League’s rules in due course.
“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.
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“The club does not recognise 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.”
What rules were broken – and what about other clubs?
The Premier League’s financial rules are designed to ensure clubs “operate within their financial means”.
They were introduced following concerns that teams were spending far more on players than they were earning in ticket sales, merchandise and other income – sparking fears some could build up unsustainable levels of debt and go bust.
The rules include a requirement that teams must not lose more than £105m over a three-year period.
However, during the 2021/22 season, investigators ruled that Everton lost £124.5m – although the club claims there were mitigating factors.
Three clubs have previously been docked points in the league. Middlesbrough were deducted three for failing to fulfil a fixture against Blackburn in 1996/97, and Portsmouth were stripped of nine after going into administration in March 2010.
Tottenham were handed a 12-point deduction before the 1994/95 season for financial irregularities, but the punishment was later revoked.
The only other current team to have been charged with breaking the rules is Manchester City, which was accused of 115 breaches in February. However the case is still ongoing amid reported wrangling between legal teams behind closed doors. It is unclear when it will be resolved.
In August, the Premier League also announced it had launched an investigation into Chelsea over their finances. However, the club has not been charged with breaking any rules and that case is also ongoing.
Everton said both the “harshness and severity of the sanction imposed by the commission are neither a fair nor a reasonable reflection of the evidence submitted”.
The club added that it would also “monitor with great interest the decisions made in any other cases concerning the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules”.
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Everton said they could not comment any further until the appeal process was over.
Steve Rotheram, the mayor of Liverpool City Region, said the points deduction was an “excessive and grossly unfair punishment”.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, he said: “I’ll be supporting the club in their appeal and writing to the Premier League to ask them to rescind it.
“This is about fairness, not partisan rivalry.”
The Premier League said in a statement: “During the proceedings, the club admitted it was in breach of the PSRs for the period ending Season 2021/22 but the extent of the breach remained in dispute.
“Following a five-day hearing last month, the Commission determined that Everton FC’s PSR Calculation for the relevant period resulted in a loss of £124.5million, as contended by the Premier League, which exceeded the threshold of £105million permitted under the PSRs.
“The Commission concluded that a sporting sanction in the form of a 10-point deduction should be imposed. That sanction has immediate effect.”
Image: One of three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets in images shared by Sweden’s armed forces. Pic: Swedish Armed Forces
The three incursions into NATO airspace fuelled concerns about the potential expansion of Russia‘s three-year war in Ukraine and have been seen as an attempt by Moscow to test the military alliance’s response.
The incident over Poland prompted its prime minister, Donald Tusk, to warn that his country was the closest to “open conflict” it had been since the Second World War, while the UK announced it would provide Warsaw with extra air cover.
Two RAF Typhoons, supported by an RAF Voyager air-to-air refuelling plane, took off from RAF Coningsby, in Lincolnshire, on Friday night to defend Poland’s skies before returning safely early on Saturday morning.
Image: A Gerbera drone landed in a field in the Olesno region of Poland
Defence Secretary John Healey said the mission sends a clear signal that “NATO airspace will be defended”.
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“I’m proud of the outstanding British pilots and air crew who took part in this successful operation to defend our allies from reckless Russian aggression.”
He said the mission was “especially poignant” coming as the UK marks the 85th anniversary of the Battle of Britain – when Polish pilots came to the aid of the UK – this weekend.
The head of the RAF, Air Chief Marshal Harv Smyth, said: “This sortie marks the RAF’s first operational mission on Eastern Sentry, reinforcing the UK’s steadfast commitment to NATO and its allies.
“We remain agile, integrated, and ready to project airpower at range.”
The prime minister had called on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to take substantive steps to end the “appalling situation in Gaza“, agree to a ceasefire, commit to a long-term sustainable peace, allow the UN to restart the supply of aid, and not annex the West Bank.
The Israeli foreign ministry furiously rejected his statement, with Mr Netanyahu claiming that “Starmer rewards Hamas‘s monstrous terrorism and punishes its victims”.
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1:28
Could recognition of Palestine change the West Bank?
Ilay David, brother of Hamas hostage Evyatar David, who was seen emaciated in a video last month, said giving recognition was “like saying to Hamas: ‘It is OK, you can keep starving the hostages, you can keep using them as human shields.’
“This kind of recognition gives Hamas power to be stubborn in negotiations. That is the last thing we need right now.”
There has been no ceasefire, and the situation in Gaza has deteriorated, with a declaration of a famine in Gaza City and the expansion of Israeli military operations.
Israel has launched a major ground offensive to seize all of Gaza City and destroy Hamas in an operation which has prompted widespread condemnation, with UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper calling it “utterly reckless and appalling”.
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What changed in UK’s Gaza policy?
Earlier this month, a UN commission of inquiry concluded that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel said the claim was “distorted and false”.
The UK will join 147 of the 193 members of the UN who recognise Palestine ahead of the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday.
Other nations, including France, Australia and Canada, have said they plan to take the same step at the UN gathering as part of a broad international effort to put pressure on Israel.
During a joint news conference with the prime minister at Chequers on Thursday, Donald Trump said he disagreed with recognition, and US politicians have urged the UK and other allies to reverse their stance.
Image: Sir Keir Starmer is expected to deliver the announcement on Sunday. Pic: PA
Sky News understands that Israel is considering options in response to the UK’s decision, but the strength of that reaction is still under consideration.
Family members of some of the 48 hostages still in captivity, after Hamas and other militant groups stormed into Israel on 7 October 2023, have written an open letter to Sir Keir, condemning the move.
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2:38
Israel ramps up attacks on Gaza City
“Hamas has already celebrated the UK’s decision as a victory and reneged on a ceasefire deal,” they said.
“We write to you with a simple plea – do not take this step until our loved ones are home and in our arms.”
The UK government is understood to be looking at further sanctions on Hamas, and has demanded the group release all hostages, agree to an immediate ceasefire, accept it will have no role in governing Gaza, and commit to disarmament.
Heathrow was among a number of major airports across Europe hit by delays after a suspected cyber attack that targeted a service provider for check-in and boarding systems.
The “technical issue” affecting Collins Aerospace, which provides check-in and boarding services for various airlines, resulted in 14 flights being cancelled at Brussels Airport on Saturday, and several more being delayed at London Heathrow, Berlin, and Dublin, among others.
Passengers have reported being unable to check in online, instead queuing for hours for staff to deal with them manually at desks and departure gates, only to be told their flights are not taking off.
Helen Steel, 49, left Dorset for Heathrow at 3am to travel home to Oslo, with her cat Thomas – but was “shouted at by staff” who told her she would not be able to fly until Sunday.
Describing the situation as an “absolute nightmare”, she said: “I’ve got an animal here, so I’m very concerned about his welfare.
“I’ve been shouted at twice and I broke down in tears because I was worried about him. None of us have had any information whatsoever. Whenever we ask ground staff, they shout at us.”
Ms Steel says she spent two hours in the queue on the phone to customer service and is now having to find a hotel to stay in overnight.
Sam arrived at Heathrow expecting to drop his girlfriend off for her flight to Rio de Janeiro – but was still at the airport seven hours later.
Image: Sam has been at Heathrow for seven hours after his girlfriend’s flight to Rio was cancelled
When they arrived, it was “chaos everywhere”, he told Sky News, with “nobody seeming to know what was going on”.
The couple say they were not told about the cyber attack by airport staff, finding out about it online instead.
After queuing for three hours, they made it to the front, only to be told the plane was not taking off, he adds.
“Her flight was at 8.40am and it was held back until 10.15am. At 10.10am they sent everyone away and told them to contact the airline. But there are no representatives for any airlines whatsoever. It’s been a bit of a farce.
“Nobody knew where they were going – and they were sending people left, right, and centre.
“She’s going tomorrow now, but we’ve got to find a hotel, and no one is here to give us any hotel vouchers. They just give you a piece of paper and say ‘you’ve got to pay for it yourself’.”
Image: Passengers wait for news at Heathrow Terminal 4. Pic: PA
‘Insane queues’ and ‘skeleton staff’
Passenger Tereza Pultarova waited around 10 hours at Heathrow after she arrived at 4.30am for her flight to Cape Town via Amsterdam.
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6:32
Tereza Pultarova had to wait 10 hours at Heathrow
“We were kind of stranded here because KLM wasn’t able to issue us boarding passes digitally, and requested us to collect them at the check-in desk,” she said.
“And then they told us that there is some sort of global issue with the system they’re using for check-in and boarding, and they have to do everything manually. So then they were checking in people at the rate of, like, one person per 10 minutes.
“I’m not exaggerating. It was just insane, the queue wasn’t moving. And then suddenly they said, ‘Oh, the flight will be departing, we’re closing the gate’.
Maria Casey was due to fly to Thailand with Etihad Airways – but had to wait three hours to drop off her luggage at Heathrow, with staff taking between five and 10 minutes to deal with each passenger.
Image: Queues at Heathrow. Pic: PA
“The queues are terrible,” she told Sky News. “It was an absolute skeleton staff. Out of six of the desks there were probably two people”.
A Heathrow spokesperson advised people to arrive no more than three hours early for a flight and apologised for any inconvenience.
It is understood British Airways at Terminal 5 remains unaffected and is operating as normal.
Collins Aerospace said it is working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
“We have become aware of a cyber-related disruption to our Muse (Multi-User System Environment) software in select airports, the firm said in a statement.
“The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations. We are actively working to resolve the issue and restore full functionality to our customers as quickly as possible.”