Following Everton’s point deduction, the Premier League has threatened Chelsea and Manchester City with FFP sanctions.

Chelsea and Manchester City have both been sent a warning by the Premier League about potential sanctions they could face after Everton were hit with a 10-point deduction. The Toffees were found guilty of breaching Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, with the punishment seeing them drop from 14th in the table down into the relegation zone to 19th, level on points with bottom-of-the-table Burnley. A statement from the league read: “An independent Commission has imposed an immediate deduction of 10 points on Everton FC for a breach of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSRs).

“Earlier this year, the Premier League issued a complaint against the Club and referred the case to an independent Commission; 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 £124.5 million, as contended by the Premier League

Everton’s financial losses of £372 million over the last three years are more than £250 million more than what the Premier League allows clubs to lose, although many believe their violation would be less serious than both the Blues and City. A recent examination into suspected payments made by Chelsea when previous owner Roman Abramovich was still in charge revealed the use of ‘offshore vehicles’ to funnel funds that favored the club while regulators or regulatory bodies were unaware.

The Russian billionaire, who was forced to sell the club last year due to sanctions imposed by the UK government in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is thought to be the owner of those accounts, with the 57-year-old also allegedly involved in further rule violations in the acquisition of Willian and Samuel Eto’o back in 2013. Pep Guardiola’s side are already under investigation for 115 suspected FFP breaches from 2009 to 2018, with many fans believing that the Premier League’s response to their case, in compared to Everton’s, demonstrates favoritism towards the bigger teams.

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher believes Everton’s punishment is harsh in comparison to the clubs that attempted to form the European Super League. On his social media account, he wrote: “Would it have been better to be evasive & try & drag it out like other clubs?”

Carragher may get his wish, however, as a few paragraphs in the document released this afternoon make for interesting reading. According to the Premier League report, any club found to be in breach of the Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) would face a proportionate penalty to any individual case, which means both clubs could face differing sanctions to both each other and Everton if necessary.

“We also acknowledge that the inference of a sporting advantage is one that should properly be drawn from the fact of a PSR breach, and that sporting advantage will have been enjoyed for each of the seasons on which the PSR calculation was based – in this case, four seasons, due to Covid.”

“Determining the appropriate sanction will always involve consideration of the facts and circumstances of the PSR violation, but it is unavoidable that the need for punishment will be at the forefront of the Commission’s considerations when assessing the sanction.” The Commission recognizes that one of the goals of a sanction is to serve as a deterrent.

“That is a valid reason for the sanction.” That would not, however, justify imposing a penalty in any given case that was disproportionate to the extent of the offense. We certainly recognize the necessity to safeguard the integrity of such an important sport, albeit we believe that some of the points made in Bolton are more relevant when dealing with professional body membership than with the running of a regulated sport.”

Essentially, it means that the Premier League are defining the potential use of fines against Man City and Chelsea to such a degree that no team would wish to do the same conduct in the future. They hold themselves in control, however, by emphasizing that, while the integrity of the sport is vital, the imposition of a penalty against a club must be fair and proportionate to the size of the club and the severity of the infraction.