Everton lodge appeal after 10-point deduction in Premier League

Everton Football Club have lodged an appeal after they were deducted 10 points for breaching the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSRs).

The appeal was lodged with the chair of the Premier League’s Judicial Panel after a Premier League Commission imposed a deduction on the club.

The club previously said it was “shocked and disappointed” by the ruling, which it described as “wholly disproportionate and unjust”.

An appeal board will now be appointed to hear the case.

The league referred Everton to an independent commission in March, after reviewing the financial records of all top-flight clubs for the 2021-22 season.

The rules say clubs can sustain losses of up to £105m in three years or potentially face penalties.

But Everton reported losses of £124.5m for the relevant period.

The Toffees said in a statement after the points deduction: “The club believes that the commission has imposed a wholly disproportionate and unjust sporting sanction.

“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.

“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.”

The club also said the “harshness and severity” of the sanction imposed by the commission was “neither a fair nor reasonable reflection of the evidence submitted”.

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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.”

Everton have been a top-division club since 1954.

The Merseyside club, one spot above last-place Burnley on goal difference, play Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Toffees boss Sean Dyche insisted the boardroom-level battle is unlikely to distract his players.

“We have to stay steadfast to the idea of winning games and that will be the key for us,” he said.