Everton, a Premier League mainstay that has spent nearly its entire 145-year existence in English soccer’s top flight, has been hit with a 10-point penalty for breaking financial rules — an unprecedented punishment that will drag the club down into the EPL’s relegation zone.
The points will be deducted immediately, pending appeal, and leave Everton on 4 points, in 19th place, 12 matches into the 2023-24 season.
They represent the most severe sporting sanction in Premier League history. They also spark all sorts of messy questions about the rules themselves, the consequences of Everton’s breach, and the implications for Manchester City — the EPL juggernaut that has separately been charged with over 100 breaches of similar rules.
Shortly after the Premier League announced its decision Friday, Everton responded with a statement, saying it was “shocked and disappointed by the ruling.” It plans to appeal what it called “a wholly disproportionate and unjust sporting sanction.”
What did Everton do?
Everton ran afoul of the Premier League’s so-called “Profitability and Sustainability Rules,” which essentially state that a club must not lose more than £105 million ($130 million) on transfers and player wages over a given three-year period.
Everton, over three seasons beginning with 2019-20 and ending with 2021-22, lost £124.5 million ($155 million), according to an independent Premier League commission that ruled on the case.
This story will be updated shortly.