The issue of the stance taken by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in relation to the thorny question of sanctions on clubs and its relevance to Everton’s appeal against the 10-point deduction imposed by the Premier League in November was recently addressed by barrister and Toffee, Matt Stanbury.
In a post on Twitter just before Christmas, he cited this potentially significant extract from the recent ruling on the European Super League case and both Fifa’s and Uefa’s closed shop for setting competitions.
In its judgment, the ECJ said, with consideration to the various domestic rules governing the different football associations across Europe, not just Uefa’s rules:
” …. in order for the sanctions introduced as an adjunct to rules on prior approval and participation, such as those at issue in the main proceedings, not to be discretionary, they must be governed by criteria that must not only be transparent, objective, precise and non-discriminatory, but must also guarantee that those sanctions are determined, in each specific case, in accordance with the principle of proportionality, in the light of, inter alia, the nature, duration and seriousness of the infringement found”.
Although the UK has left the EU, such that the judgment is not of direct effect, it is – at the very least – of persuasive effect. The Premier League itself says that it is bound by EU law, no doubt because of its membership of Uefa and the need for close regulatory alignment.
Further, some of the case law used by the Commission, eg, the Sheffield Wednesday case, was itself derived from Uefa cases, again reinforcing the need for close if not exact alignment.
The lack of any “transparent, objective, precise and non-discriminatory” rules within the Premier League rules themselves (as distinct from the Premier League Board’s contentious guidelines) means that they fall foul of the regulatory requirements that are deemed to be required by the ECJ across the various Uefa members.
Accordingly, until such a framework is adopted by the member clubs, the PSR (at least arguably) cannot be enforced.
Matt Stanbury further observed:
“This could be decisive for Everton. Yes, the UK has left the EU, but the Premier League is bound up in Uefa and so proceeds as if governed by European Law. Having punitive sanctions decided in a vacuum offends against fairness under the common law in any event.”
To which, Andy Burnham replied:
“My reading of the ECJ ruling is it gives the Premier League a big headache over their treatment of Everton.
“It says sanctions must be based on “transparent” criteria. The PL’s refusal to publish details of its “formula” is therefore a huge problem.
“So we fight on!”