Sport nationEverton are set to begin their second independent hearing over alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules in the coming days, with the conclusion of Nottingham Forest’s own case marking the start of another contentious chapter in an increasingly farcical relegation battle.
According to a report from i News, Forest have now wrapped up their first disciplinary commission hearing related to charges of violating the league’s profitability and sustainability regulations (PSR). The East Midlands club, like Everton, were referred to an independent commission earlier this year after being found to have recorded losses above the permitted £105 million threshold over a three-year period.
With Forest’s initial proceedings complete, the path is now clear for Everton’s latest hearing to commence, likely within the next week. It will be the second time this season the Merseyside club has faced an independent panel over PSR breaches, having already been docked 10 points in November for financial violations covering the period from 2018-2022.
That unprecedented points deduction was later reduced to six on appeal, but it set the stage for a new commission to be appointed to judge Everton’s finances from 2019-2023, a timeframe that overlaps with the previous charges by two seasons.
For Everton and their long-suffering supporters, it has been an exhausting, demoralizing saga that has cast a dark cloud over the entire campaign. With the threat of another points penalty looming, the prospect of the club being sucked into a relegation battle that could extend into the summer via a series of appeals and re-hearings is becoming an increasingly real possibility.
As i News reports, that grim scenario is one that could engulf multiple Premier League clubs in the coming months as a growing number face investigations and potential sanctions over their financial practices and compliance with spending regulations.
In addition to Everton and Forest, Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Chelsea, and Leicester City have all had issues raised about their finances and ability to adhere to PSR. The threat of points deductions being handed down after the season concludes, potentially impacting the final league standings and relegation places, has led one prominent football finance expert to warn that the sport is in “danger of becoming more spreadsheet than teamsheet.”
“Football is in danger of becoming more spreadsheet than teamsheet. There’s an argument that it’s becoming a disappointing aspect of the game we love,” Kieran Maguire told i News. “People go to watch football to escape the drudgery of life, to escape admin and numbers and all of the tedium that comes with it but it’s increasingly becoming a very big part of it.”
Maguire’s lament captures the growing sense of dismay and disillusionment among fans as financial regulations and potential sanctions have taken center stage, overshadowing the on-field product and transforming the Premier League’s relegation scrap into a muddled, litigious mess.
For Everton, the situation has been particularly galling. The club was rocked by November’s 10-point deduction, which dropped them from a comfortable mid-table position into the thick of the relegation fight. While that penalty was reduced on appeal, the six-point deduction still in place has left Sean Dyche’s side teetering just above the drop zone.
The prospect of further points being docked in the wake of next week’s hearing has only added to the uncertainty and anxiety at Goodison Park. Everton’s form has nosedived in recent months as the off-field turmoil has clearly taken a toll, with the team winning just two of their last 14 league matches to fall perilously close to the bottom three.
For a historic club that has been an ever-present in the top-flight for nearly seven decades, the possibility of relegation due to financial mismanagement rather than on-field performance is a galling prospect that has drained much of the enjoyment from supporting the team this season.
“Everton supporters won’t feel especially bad for other clubs’ fans not enjoying their experience given what they’ve already been through with the Toffees, and are still enduring,” the i News report states. “But it comes to something when even a football finance expert is now admitting the side of the game he is specifically focused on is ruining it for the public.”
Indeed, Maguire’s concerns reflect a growing sense that financial regulations like PSR, while well-intentioned, have become a source of confusion, controversy and acrimony rather than ensuring responsible spending and a level playing field as intended.
The lack of consistency and clarity in how the rules are interpreted and enforced has opened the door for wealthy club owners to exploit loopholes and gray areas through complex accounting methods and legal maneuvering. The result has been a steady stream of charges, hearings, appeals and re-trials that have made a mockery of the process.
Everton, for example, have argued that there is an element of “double jeopardy” at play in their latest charges, as two-thirds of the timeframe under review overlaps with the previous case they were sanctioned for. The club believes the Premier League’s rules are fundamentally flawed, stating: “The Premier League does not have guidelines which prevent a club being sanctioned for alleged breaches in financial periods unlike other governing bodies, including the EFL.”
Whether Everton’s objections hold weight remains to be seen, but their broader point about the muddled, piecemeal nature of the current regulations rings true. With virtually every Premier League club of means facing some degree of scrutiny over their finances, the system is at risk of becoming increasingly sclerotic as cases drag on through a maze of panels, appeals, and countersuits.
The Premier League has taken steps to try to streamline the disciplinary process, instituting new “fast-track” rules last summer that aim to have any charges heard and resolved, including appeals, within a year. But those guidelines didn’t cover the cases involving Everton, Forest, and others already in progress.
As a result, the prospect of the 2023-24 season bleeding into the summer amid a logjam of outstanding cases and appeals is a very real one that could make a mockery of the competition’s integrity. Imagine a scenario where a club is mathematically safe from relegation on the final day, only to have points deducted weeks or months later that drags them into the drop zone ex post facto.
It’s a farcical possibility that seems increasingly plausible as the Premier League’s financial rules have become mired in legalistic minutiae and the subject of intense gaming by club owners and lawyers seeking any possible advantage or loophole to exploit.
The sad reality is that rather than upholding the principles of fair play and financial sustainability that were the original aim, the PSR regulations have become just another battleground for the Premier League’s elite clubs to gain an edge through superior legal firepower and creative accounting.
For fans of clubs like Everton who have found themselves ensnared in the thicket of disciplinary hearings and points deductions, it has drained much of the passion and escapism from following their team. When spreadsheets and lawyers overshadow players and managers, the very essence of sport is lost.
As Maguire stated, people attend matches and support their clubs to escape the drudgery of daily life and administrative tedium. But increasingly, financial regulations have become the inescapable focus, transforming the Premier League into the kind of joyless, bureaucratic slog it was meant to provide an entertaining release from.
The situation has become so farcical and overreach so egregious that a fundamental rewriting of the financial rules seems inevitable, if only to restore some semblance of clarity, consistency and common sense. A system where virtually every club stands accused of violations, and where charges, sanctions and appeals can drag on indefinitely, simply is not sustainable.
What form those new regulations take remains to be seen. Some have called for a strict salary cap system more akin to North American sports leagues. Others have proposed stripping things back to basic profit/loss assessments without complex accounting carveouts and loopholes to exploit.
Whatever path is chosen, it is clear the current system has failed in its mission to ensure financial sustainability and fair competition. As Everton and their Premier League rivals prepare for another round of hearings and potential sanctions, the need for reform has never been more glaring. Otherwise, the sport risks becoming entirely consumed by its own financial minutiae, sacrificing the very essence of competition and sporting meritocracy it was meant to uphold.
Citations:
[1] https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/13048863/everton-and-nottingham-forest-charged-with-breaching-premier-league-profitability-and-sustainability-rules
[2] https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/every-premier-league-points-deduction-28138920
[3] https://www.football.london/chelsea-fc/financial-fair-play-record-losses-28756962
[4] https://swissramble.substack.com/p/nottingham-forests-ffp-issues
[5] https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/everton-points-deduction-premier-league-ffp-b2478948.html
[6] https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/13089224/leicester-facing-potential-points-deduction-for-alleged-breach-of-premier-leagues-profit-and-sustainability-rules
[7] https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/everton-nottingham-forest-charged-ffp-premier-league-2854223
[8] https://www.olbg.com/blogs/uk-league-football-points-deduction
[9] https://swissramble.substack.com/p/newcastle-united-finances-202223
[10] https://www.cobden.co.uk/latest/latest_news/the-premier-league-and-the-law-the-curious-continuing-case-of-everton-football-club/
[11] https://www.footballfancast.com/football-teams-points-deductions-ffp/
[12] https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-city-115-charges-sticking-9156980
[13] https://theathletic.com/5203411/2024/01/15/manchester-city-ffp-charges-everton-nottingham-forest/
[14] https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/man-city-chelsea-premier-league-31483038
[15] https://www.btgadvisory.com/articles/general/evertons-points-deduction-ruling-shines-a-bright-light-on-football-club-financial-mismanagement
[16] https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/everton-nottingham-forest-charged-breaking-premier-league-financial-rules/
[17] https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunners/comments/197f2b3/prem_watch_everton_fc_and_nottingham_forest_fc/
[18] https://www.sportsmax.tv/football/international/item/133514-everton-deducted-10-points-for-breach-of-premier-league-financial-rules
[19] https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/breaking-everton-premier-league-appeal-32160714
[20] https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/breaking-everton-nottingham-forest-ffp-31883538
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