In January 2024, in front of a select committee for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), Premier League chief executive Richard Masters slipped up.
While speaking about the punishments handed the way of Everton, and, subsequently, Nottingham Forest, for breaches of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Regulations (PSR), and why those cases were being wrapped up so quickly compared to the ones involving Chelsea and Manchester City.
“The standard directions are for everybody,” said Masters. “They’re not just for small clubs. If anybody was found to be in breach, and put forward a PSR calculation that was found to be in breach, and put forward a PSR calculation that was above the threshold, they’d be doing exactly the same thing on exactly the same timeframe.”
The slip-up came with one key phrase: “Small clubs”.
Keep in mind, Everton are nine-time English champions. Nottingham Forest have won two European Cups. “Small clubs” they are not.
And what really stung at the time, and really stings now, is that under the lid, it is clear that Masters and his fellows on the Premier League board do have a two-tier system. He was all but telling us: one for “small clubs”, and one for the other, presumably, “bigger clubs”.
If you want any evidence, just look at this week, and the ludicrously lenient punishment dished out to Chelsea.
Let’s add a bit of context here. If you want further detail from real experts, then this article from Stefan Borson (@slbsn) is well worth a read, while Kieran Maguire’s Price Of Football podcast is also a worthy listen.
Essentially, in 2022, when Clearlake Capital bought Chelsea, they spotted some inappropriate payments that were made to unlicensed representatives and agents that were made by the club, during Roman Abramovich’s ownership, across a period of seven years.
Clearlake held back £150M of the agreed asking price for what it called “unforeseen liabilities”, and reported these findings to Uefa, the Premier League and the Football Association (FA).
That was almost four years ago.
In July 2023, Uefa issued Chelsea with an £8.6M fine. A slap on the wrist, but all was dealt with swiftly. However, the Premier League and FA cases dragged on, and on, and on…
And in that time, of course, the Premier League board showed that the PSR had some teeth. They asked for the strictest possible punishment for Everton after their 2021-22 breach, with the Toffees handed a ridiculous 10-point deduction by an Independent Commission. That was subsequently reduced to 6 points on appeal, but it was clearly laid out in legal precedent that a PSR breach equated to a sporting advantage, and therefore, a sporting sanction was the only possible punishment.
In fact, the first Everton case went as far as to establish that “A financial penalty for a club that enjoys the support of a wealthy owner is not a sufficient penalty” and that “the requirements of deterrence, vindication of compliant clubs, and the protection of the integrity of the sport demand a sporting sanction in the form of a points deduction.”
Forget why Everton breached, or how — indeed, the club were informed they should have foreseen a war in Ukraine, which tied up the cash flow of its majority shareholder — they had overspent on the squad while trying to build a new stadium, and for that they must be punished.
A couple of months later, Nottingham Forest were hit with a 4-point deduction, despite breaching the PSR threshold by more than Everton, and the Toffees were then hit with another deduction (this time of 2 points) for breaching the rules in 2022-23.
All that is in the past, but what those cases did do is set a precedent.
Yet, of course, the Premier League board has managed to find a way around that precedent in the Chelsea case, so as to not punish one of the “in” crowd.
It is entirely predictable, of course. This is the same Premier League board that did nothing to prevent Chelsea selling property to themselves in order to keep within PSR limits, and so that has in turn allowed other clubs to do the same. If they could, one feels the Premier League board would probably stop “smaller clubs” from treading the same path, but they wouldn’t have a leg to stand on from a legal perspective.
But the mental arithmetic the Premier League board has gone to, after an investigation spanning the best part of four years, to not hand Chelsea a sporting sanction, is extraordinary.
Between 2011 and 2018, Chelsea made at least 36 payments, all of which were off-book, totalling upto £47.5M, through offshore entities associated with their previous owner, Abramovich. Around half of that went to unauthorised player representatives.
While there is zero blame to be attached to the players involved (and some player names have been redacted), some of the names in the case are: David Luiz, Eden Hazard, Ramires, Willian, Andre Schurrle, Samuel Eto’o and Nemanja Matic.
Yet the Premier League board has come to the conclusion that spending money in an unauthorised way in order to sign these players, did not constitute a sporting advantage. Let’s just gloss over that Hazard went on to become a Premier League great, or that Chelsea won several Premier League titles during the time these indiscretions were taking place.
The Premier League’s statement, which is incredibly detailed as they attempt to explain away their failings, incompetency and cowardice, claims that, as these payments — if they were made on-book — would not have resulted in Chelsea breaching the PSR limit, then there could be no sporting advantage derived, and therefore a sporting sanction (a points deduction) could not be applied.
There was also significant weight given to mitigating factors, such as Clearlake’s self-reporting and their co-operation throughout the case.
Instead, a £10.75M fine (reduced from £20M due to Chelsea’s co-operation), a 9-month academy transfer ban and a suspended first-team transfer ban, lasting 1 year, was Chelsea’s meagre punishment.
And of course, mitigation should be applied, but only when done so fairly. Neither Forest nor Everton received anywhere close to as much leniency. Not with the level of punishment, and certainly not with the level of weight given to the mitigating factors.
When Everton fans held up “Premier League — Corrupt” posters in November 2023, eyes were rolled by neutral fans. Pundits scoffed at the fans. Patted them on the head for their spirit but insisted this is the way it must be. The club had been cheeky and must be put on the naughty step.
One now hopes some of those pundits have the humility to admit they were wrong. The Premier League board has no interest in truly punishing the “biggest” clubs. They will go through the process, and take far too long to do it, and in the end, they’ll find a way to protect those clubs.
Fittingly, Chelsea are the next visitors to Hill Dickinson Stadium, and if there wasn’t already enough riding on this game for Everton, this latest injustice should only add fuel to the fire.
Chelsea, for all the millions they have spent, either legally or illegally, over the years, are not a team to be feared. And a bit of righteous anger could go a long way for Everton come Saturday.
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Reader Comments (34)
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2 Posted 18/03/2026 at 12:53:17
The results this season may be strange for a reason. Smaller clubs are figuring out how to assemble competitive squads. Bloated squads can't keep all of their players happy. Meanwhile, expectations will be weighty as bigger clubs pick off lower-table talent.
It hasn't worked so far. We need to dig in and directly accelerate their demise, every chance we get. All of the lower-table teams should.
3 Posted 18/03/2026 at 13:18:35
We did get on with it, we overcame a drastic draconian penalty, which came after 3 years of not being able to spend much money on players, meaning we had already really weakened our squad.
How we survived is a mystery... If Chelsea end up qualifying for the Champions League this season, then their fine will have already been quashed because of the money they will automatically receive.
Let's see how the season plays out first, but it will be interesting to see how any club that loses out of qualifying for the Champions League instead of Chelsea,reacts after this very lenient penalty, comparing it to other clubs who suffered much greater penalties.
4 Posted 18/03/2026 at 13:22:44
It's a corrupt organisation. So things like this will continue to happen.
5 Posted 18/03/2026 at 13:36:08
6 Posted 18/03/2026 at 13:46:53
But they will most probably get lots of help from the ref and VAR... COYB NSNO
7 Posted 18/03/2026 at 14:13:51
We overcame a disproportionate and vengeful penalty which owed more to trying to resist a football regulator than any concept of justice or fairness.
Premier League willingness, through negligible fines, to sanction fraud and corruption (guilt admitted, not in question) from ‘Top 6' football clubs, fuels the concept of Premier League corruption.
It sustains a hierarchy of financially elite clubs and anti-competitiveness.
In simple terms, it sustains a non-level playing field and puts the potential of other teams winning trophies further and further away.
You reach the point of saying, ‘What is the point?'
8 Posted 18/03/2026 at 14:15:45
If one of your family was injured or worse in an accident or assault and the person responsible got a fine as their family had status and money, when a very similar situation happened previously and the person responsible received 10 years in prison, you would not be happy.
All we want is fair justice for everyone. Never going to happen.
9 Posted 18/03/2026 at 14:20:54
I'm talking about a game. Bit different from a family member.
10 Posted 18/03/2026 at 14:47:17
I don't mind keeping my mouth shut in the right circumstances. I honestly feel that I haven't got long left wanting to watch football at the highest level, but maybe this has got a lot to do with the inconsistency that I think I witness on quite a very regular basis whenever I watch football nowadays.
If this is the case, I don't know wether it's better for me to just keep my mouth shut, walk away, or maybe try and highlight the obvious corruption because it's very sad watching the way the game I love (I can't make up my mind if it's the game I used to love) eating itself up from within.
11 Posted 18/03/2026 at 15:29:06
I agree with all of that.
To be honest, I'm already at the stage of not watching football at the highest level. I also used to enjoy International and European football too, but don't watch that either.
I only go see the odd non-league game nowadays. Still, I guess even then, I 'have to' keep an eye what's happening to an extent.
Checking ToffeeWeb, the odd other site and chatting to family/friends is about it for me now. Shame.
12 Posted 18/03/2026 at 15:42:34
Apart from watching Everton, I have walked away from the game.
13 Posted 18/03/2026 at 15:43:37
Have a look at Ruud Gullit's thoughts on modern day football.
I agree 100% with him.
14 Posted 18/03/2026 at 15:57:56
Thanks for the heads up. I agree too!
15 Posted 18/03/2026 at 16:05:50
There's too much football now, you can get fed up of too much of anything, I suppose… even that if you're very lucky and young enough!
Probably some of us are sad old buggers who have been around too long and everything is old hat.
16 Posted 18/03/2026 at 16:14:47
It's like the Olympics for me -- the overarching structure is rotten to the core, so I just enjoy the human competition and ignore the politics if I can.
17 Posted 18/03/2026 at 16:21:17
Our potential pay out to Burnley would likely be more than Chelsea got fined total.
I would love to see Richard Masters put on a lie detector and watch him squirm.
A game we all grew up loving being completely ruined by greed and corruption.
19 Posted 18/03/2026 at 17:12:52
It starts with the likes of Masters and runs right through PGMOL, VAR etc.
The club should take a stand but won’t — and therein lies the problem. Every chance the entitled mob from across the park to claim injustice they do ably assisted by an also biased media where most of their ex-players have jobs.
It was hoped the government regulator would put the brakes on this but that is another puppet position.
As other posters have said we should start the revolution by taking 3 points off the Chavs on Saturday, 3 points off the corrupt Citizens, and 3 points off the Red Shite.
Hope rests eternal but we can but try.
20 Posted 18/03/2026 at 17:17:46
Let's get these clubs out of the system and get back to football as it used to be. Rules applied the same for one and all.
It's very clear to anyone who can see that the Premier League is a corrupt organization, doing anything it can to keep the billions pouring in. Everton or Forest "break the rules?" Can't be having that, give them points deduction because it really doesn't affect the TV revenue or the "image' now, does it?
Man City or Chelsea break the rules? They are a vital necessity to the Premier League and we can't possibly do anything to them that may potentially affect their position in the league.
Richard Masters along with the Premier League "authorities" are some of the biggest hypocrites in football, and that's saying something when Fifa has been nothing but a cesspool of corruption and money laundering.
As someone who absolutely hates government intervention or influence, I fear that government intervention in the form of an independent regulator to protect and safeguard the future of football is really the only way out of this "one rule for some, a different rule for others" problem.
Oh, and if you think this is just about the FFP and points deductions, I could go back to multiple instances of rules enforcement against our club but not other "bigger" clubs — the FA's infamous diving panel anyone? Yes, the one that penalized Niasse and Lanzini for diving after the fact only to never penalize another player or club again.
One of many examples of a two-tiered justice system in the Premier League.
21 Posted 18/03/2026 at 17:49:43
During that time, I have seen players wages climb from £10 a week to the present absurd heights and the UK divisions run by a relatively small FA to bloated quangos of which the Premier League is the leading example.
What we are currently witnessing is a classic case of money-obsessed bureaucrats who have no interest in the beautiful game, looking for ways to justify their existence. We can't beat them so just ignore them and carry on doing what we do best!
22 Posted 18/03/2026 at 19:29:16
I would have chosen "torturing"!!
23 Posted 18/03/2026 at 23:01:34
Run now by corrupt greedy bastards who couldn't give two fucks about anything other than themselves.
24 Posted 19/03/2026 at 01:45:55
Bill (20): 'I have come to the point where I now think the European Super League is a good thing. Let's get these clubs out of the system and get back to football as it used to be'.
Bill, you seem to believe that we would not be part of a Super League. This league will be larger than either of us think, and it is my opinion that we would be part of it with continued improvement over the next few seasons on and off the pitch and one of the very best eye-catching stadiums in Europe.
And, needless to say, Saint Daniel the Absent and Saint Agnus the Silent would run through 20 miles of broken glass to be involved. Saint Daniel the Absent could then start to plan to move the Everton franchise that he so gets because apprently he is falling for us big time across the Channel.
25 Posted 19/03/2026 at 02:03:03
I agree that we're on the right trajectory on several fronts (stadium, players, finances) but again, not sure I'd want to be part of that any sort of league like that. Our history, however, speaks for itself, that much is certain.
I'd rather the Premier League clean up it's own house but it's absurdly clear that will never happen without outside intervention forcing the Premier League's hand.
26 Posted 19/03/2026 at 03:40:34
I'm with you on staying behind in a 'cleaned up' Premier League, Bill -- and we could then become a member of the corrupt Sky Six!
27 Posted 19/03/2026 at 05:12:06
The ESL will just replace or be in competition with the Champions League.
28 Posted 19/03/2026 at 05:25:38
There will be legal cases. The Premier League could even move to expel their darlings. Remember that there were words to that effect last time round.
Perhaps Arsenal, Chelsea, and Everton will treat the Premier League like the old Central League, a nursery for younger and reserve players.
No one knows for certain -- and that's the point.
29 Posted 19/03/2026 at 10:07:36
I have thought about this before. I think the initial break to join the recently mooted European Super League was to be as you say, the Sly Six playing in both the Premier League and the ESL.
Unfortunately (for the rest of us), I believe it would have been something like, first team play ESL and an 'A' team played the Premier League fixtures (even though these 'Super League' clubs would have massive squads). This, for me, would simply have dumbed down the Premier League.
My ideal scenario would be that they leave the Premier League completely to join a separate ESL (no domestic football). Then the rest of us could reform a more balanced top flight. Though, at some stage, either the Sly Six would come back or another team (or two... Newcastle?) would suddenly become the new super-rich media darlings.
To be honest, I don't know how it would pan out. I'd just like to wave 'bye bye' to the current bunch of cheating, rule-breaking, corrupt, self-serving so-called 'Big' clubs!
30 Posted 19/03/2026 at 15:55:02
31 Posted 19/03/2026 at 22:11:20
The one thing I might question is the idea that any SL/SLS will be confined to the so-called Sky boys: what on earth are we to do with Tottenham?!
I have nothing concrete to base my hunch on apart from the thoughts of some journalists and other opinion, but for what it's worth I am starting to think that the scope and scale of this will be larger that you and I and Eric think.
And my Cinderella hunch is that it might be the case that we/Everton will be saying goodbye PL hello ESL/ESLS.
32 Posted 23/03/2026 at 12:28:14
Cheers mate.
Good point about possibly involving more than the Sly Six. Guess I only think of them (as they seem to be all that matters!).
It could be a bigger European Super League with more teams from the major European leagues. This could include maybe 10 or 12 from the Premier League. I assume if this ever happened, it would be a 2 or 3 division structure.
I think some form of breakaway 'Super' league will happen eventually.
33 Posted 23/03/2026 at 12:53:28
The idea that buying Hazard, Luiz, Eto'o and the rest didn't have an effect on their on-field performance is a lie of spectacular proportions, whereas it is equally clear that Everton's interest payments did is a disgusting piece of politician-level insulting duplicity.
That would put them on 18 points (Chelsea) and 21 points (Man City) respectively, would bump West Ham and Spurs out of the relegation zones and make for an entertaining end to the season. Both teams could then fight furiously for their survival, and the on-field disadvantage and peril would be appropriate.
34 Posted 23/03/2026 at 15:16:11
It is therefore dead. In exchange for dropping their legal claims for damages, Real Madrid and other stakeholders agreed to rejoin the European Club Association (of which Dan Friedkin is a Board Member).
Uefa solidified its position by promising further integration of clubs into the commercial decision-making process for the Champions League, effectively burying the Super League concept for the foreseeable future.
So I hate to spell it out but none of the Sly Sky Six or their buddies are going anywhere soon...
35 Posted 26/03/2026 at 03:07:00
I really hope we do this is true, as it will show the Premier League that we can't be pushed arounds any more.
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1 Posted 18/03/2026 at 12:19:07