Everton have confirmed that they have lodged a formal appeal with the Chair of the Premier League’s Judicial Panel against last month's ruling by a Commission to impose a 10-point deduction on the club.
The club were hit with the biggest points penalty in the history of top-flight football on the recommendation of a Premier League-appointed panel based for breaching Profitability and Sustainability Rules by £19.5m.
Shock on the blue half of Merseyside at the disproportionately heavy sanction has been matched in many quarters of the game and there is hope that the penalty could be reduced.
According to i News, one sports lawyer says that the club stand a good chance of having the number of points levied against them but having the entire penalty erased is unlikely.
Carlos Hurtado, a sports lawyer at Baker McKenzie, said in regard to how Everton could argue their case to the Appeal Board:
“First I would focus my response on the fact Everton have basically co-operated and been transparent. Broadly speaking it doesn’t appear in this case they have withheld information,” he says.
“There is a lot around mitigation too – the war in Ukraine, losing USM sponsorship, things like that. But another area of mitigation is to stress there was no intention to gain a competitive or sporting advantage.
“I think there is weight in the argument that they tried to comply with the regulations. I would stress that after the date being argued about the club are in compliance and have corrected the mistake.
“A lot of the external factors have gone now and we could show a different perspective to the appeal board and get a different decision. I would focus something around proportionality. There was a breach but it was a smaller breach, not a substantial breach for the points deduction put out.
“I would also look at precedent – the previous punishments in the EFL and in Italy, for example, have not been as harsh as Everton’s.”
In the meantime, the chair of Everton's Fan Advisory Board (FAB) has written to Alison Brittain CBE, the Chair of the Premier League, to express his body's concern that the Premier League commission's adjudication did not take into account the impact on the club's supporters.
"[W]e would like to express our significant concerns that at no point during the process which led to (what is, in our opinion) the disproportionate penalty imposed on Everton Football Club or, in considering and making recommendations about the potential sanctions that should be applied to the breach, has the Premier League considered or taken into account the views of supporters," Dave Kelly wrote.
"Developing a meaningful understanding of perspectives and engaging with key stakeholders are well accepted principles of effective regulation. One of the guiding principles of the Fan Led Review is to ensure that regulatory sanctions should avoid impacting fans, wherever possible.
Can you therefore clarify what measures the Premier League took to effectively consider the impact or interests of supporters in recommending an unprecedented sporting sanction? Can you also confirmwhich, if any, groups were consulted and how their feedback was factored into the Premier League considerations?"
Reader Comments (24)
Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer ()
2 Posted 01/12/2023 at 16:19:03
In my eyes it merely confirms that the whole thing absolutely stinks. If it is all above board, and they will insist that it is, then the result, if there is still to be a points reduction which we all expect, the points reduction has got to be announced straight away, as the initial one was, so removing the suspicion that they will award whatever reduction will achieve their objective. In other words what they original intended it should be.
The suspicion is that they want to kill Everton off in one swell swoop. It sounds like justice Premier League style.
I sincerely hope that my thoughts are wide of the mark but from where I am sitting it doesn't look like it is what they intend.
Any thoughts?
3 Posted 01/12/2023 at 16:20:52
As for the subsequent period to 2023, it might need Paul the Esk's skill to guesstimate if we'd be OK. I think at first sight, it will be tight but probably just on the right side of the line. And I think the worst case if we are a very small amount over, is there will be a further suspended sentence- or at least that is what I would argue for, if they insist on using points deductions.
4 Posted 01/12/2023 at 17:29:52
5 Posted 01/12/2023 at 17:34:28
They should never have taken the points off immediately anyway - they should have given us a suspended 10 point deduction pending appeal.
Your point is bang on - it's a scandal that they were able to simply dock us points on the spot. Of course we were going to appeal.
6 Posted 01/12/2023 at 17:58:01
7 Posted 01/12/2023 at 18:11:36
Can't wait to see what the kangaroo court does next.
We should continue to kick up a stink until they reverse the points deduction, in the meantime the EPL will continue to display to all how bent they are and how they are killing football.
If we manage to survive and see out the season then focus may shift elsewhere as other clubs are operating under scrutiny.
But it starts on Saturday and 3 points will be a massive lift after the initial momentum was snuffed out at Goodison.
8 Posted 01/12/2023 at 18:37:35
On a good day they could make it a 6pt penalty.
Most of us are thinking they will reduce it, but you never know!
9 Posted 01/12/2023 at 19:13:11
Jesus wept, this whole thing is a stitch up. Irrespective of its rule book, the approach and application to resolving it has been and continues to be vindictive. It's like a God damned vendetta. Right down to the attempted global stifling of match day protests, interviews and even commentators.
This is corruption. There is no other reasonable argument for such treatment.
However this attempt at the destruction of our club plays out, and make no mistake, this is a clear and present danger to our existence, the days of meek acquiescence are finished. They picked the wrong club, the wrong fans, the wrong team.
The threat of further sanctions is very real, it would not surprise me one little bit if we sold Godfrey, Keane, and possibly Onana in the January window to ensure compliance with this sanction period. Such is the reality, such is the threat.
Finally off subject, where is the support from the other club in Liverpool? Conspicuous by their absence? Strangely quiet fot a vocal advocate for injustices?
People laughingly think this is all a conspiracy. Believable conspiracies have been built on much, much less evidence. For that's what it is, evidence.
We have to perform on the pitch and off it, to fend off this attack on our existence and bring pressure to bear to end the corruption of power used to destroy us.
This vindictive vendetta must end.
No other club has been treated this way, and in my opinion, never will. They have already kicked the Man City can down the road for another few years, giving time for the shifting of Everton to be complete, remembered only by its fans, considered inconsequential and irrelevant anyway.
10 Posted 01/12/2023 at 19:24:20
If, and it's a big if, we've managed to put together a case that can prove consideration wasn't given where it should have been, and had it been then we wouldn't have broken P&S rules, then all the points deduction could be scrubbed.
That's my dream, but not many of.my dreams have come true.
11 Posted 01/12/2023 at 20:35:43
There can no scope for the EPL, to trump up any more conditional charges.
The EPL should also be open to be fined for slander and character deformation and brand damage to Everton.
I see big positives down the line, if Everton, get a good result frombthe appeal but it's all ifs and buts, for now.
The bullying and qwest to put Everton down, by the EPL, must stop, regardless.
Everton, inspired and on fire tomorrow to do Forest.
UTFTs!
12 Posted 01/12/2023 at 20:43:37
Will blow Sunderlands one out of the water.
Anyway back to the matter in hand, ever since we kicked up a fuss about the breakaway six, they have been after us, even more so when we got an apology for the Rodri handball, followed by 3 games on the trot, where we had a player Red carded we went months not getting a penalty.
Then two seasons on the trot they gave us nothing we escaped twice, we overcame var and refs ridiculous decisions against us and survived, so now they deduct points which may get reduced, but one thing is for certain, they want Everton out of the way and will do everything they can to try and succeed at the third attempt.
13 Posted 01/12/2023 at 20:52:13
14 Posted 01/12/2023 at 21:49:28
I think the shortfall we are being done for would have been USM naming rights for the stadium… which when the war happened we couldn't get. Just my opinion, but I think we are being very severely punished for not doing a lot wrong compared to others.
It stinks of corruption and I hope we only get a 3-point or 5-point suspension at the appeal.
15 Posted 01/12/2023 at 23:04:43
16 Posted 01/12/2023 at 23:27:00
Afterwards the rules will change and only Everton will ever be penalised to this extent, the Premier League will have made their point.
17 Posted 02/12/2023 at 19:41:39
18 Posted 03/12/2023 at 08:26:23
I think we should go all the way to CAS even if they reduce it. They will reduce it heavily in the hope we accept it and move on I think to try and draw a line under it.
19 Posted 03/12/2023 at 08:44:00
However, as things stand I'd take a significant reduction in the severity of the penalty (6 points or more off) or a suspension of the deduction, assuming finances are now in order and a sanctions policy will shortly be in place.
20 Posted 03/12/2023 at 10:36:38
21 Posted 03/12/2023 at 19:00:24
22 Posted 04/12/2023 at 11:32:25
So, we are not alone!! UTFT!!!!!
23 Posted 04/12/2023 at 13:56:36
Did the Premier League totally fuck-up our prosecution in order to hamstring themselves from taking meaningful and substantial action against the more favored clubs, Man City and Chelsea?
It is the only unifying concept I can fathom.
24 Posted 04/12/2023 at 14:56:43
We were an easy target, not one of their Sky darlings, badly run by a stooge of an oligarch.
We had an African gambling company on our shirts that had a bad press and we were portrayed by the likes of Sky and Talkshite as throwing money around like confetti(although, we all know that this was over a very short term).
If the bad is reduced, I fear that they will do everything to wack us on the subsequent books.
The fans all over the world know that Newcastle will be able to spend huge amounts buying players from other Saudi clubs, owned by their owners, that Chelsea signed players on 8 year deals to get round the rules on P&S, which has now been scrapped, and other teams are saddled with massive debts(United) by unscrupillous owners.
Then there are teams like Forest who signed 40 odd players. Not to mention Man City.
Our trouble is, that by the time we have ended this season, at best we will have lost 1.5 m for each league place lost. The PL have created turmoil which could still cost us our PL status at a time when we are changing owners.
They really have had no regard for the fans, the players or the staff whose livelihoods they are jeopardizing.
Add Your Comments
In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.
Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.
How to get rid of these ads and support TW


1 Posted 01/12/2023 at 15:44:48
Reduction to Six?
Is this the first salvo in the Premier League's Public Relations machine, getting the club and the fans to accept some type of points penalty?