Everton’s punishment for breaching financial rules being reduced from 10 points to six on appeal has at least given the Premier League season some clarity.
But the 61-page verdict explaining the decision points to a chaotic, confusing and, at times, contradictory process that risks unravelling.
Why does it feel like the future of Premier League clubs, one that is intertwined with that of staff, fans, coaches, players and communities, businesses worth hundreds of millions of pounds, is being decided upon by people groping around in the dark wearing blindfolds?
Everton climbed four points and two places higher in the Premier League table – moving five clear of the relegation places. That was for certain.
What is less clear is how and why that conclusion was reached and what it means for the future of Everton, facing a second charge, and Nottingham Forest, whose hearing for a first breach will begin on 7 March. And any of the clubs who may well face this process in seasons to come. Fans of every club should be wary of what lies ahead.
What are the consequences?
The consequences could be years – more than a decade, even – of legal wrangling, decreased spending in the transfer market, mirroring the January transfer window, and league places determined, in part, by court cases.
Legal experts have questioned why the appeal board criticised Everton for providing “materially wrong” information to the Premier League, yet also criticised the original commission for accusing Everton of having not acted with “utmost good faith”.
Why, too, was the EFL’s sanctioning guidelines taken into consideration by the appeal, when they govern an entirely different competition and carry no legal weight?
“The appeal board’s decision very much paves the way for other clubs to take action against Everton — because the decision makes it clear that Everton obtained a sporting advantage from breaking the rules,” Simon Leaf, one of the country’s leading sports lawyers, told i.
“So I would expect to see claims from the likes of Burnley, Leeds and Southampton, in particular, over the coming months. This may lead to a further snowballing effect if other clubs, such as Manchester City and Chelsea, are found to be in breach.”
As the Premier League’s financial fair play snowball careens down the pyramid it may well take the game’s integrity and fairness with it, carving a jagged pathway through what is supposed to be a level playing field.
How will it affect Forest?
One thing made clear was that clever legal arguments will be given short shrift when it comes to defending breaking profit and sustainability rules (PSR), whereby clubs can lose a maximum of £105m over a three-year period. A breach is a breach – and a points deduction, the appeal confirmed, is the appropriate punishment.
It will be a blow for Nottingham Forest, who intend to argue that the £47.5m sale of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham Hotspur fell out of the financial window in question due to the club seeking maximum value for a player they developed through their academy. Their hope is it is backdated.
i first revealed that rival clubs were adamant that Forest will face a points deduction and Everton’s appeal verdict confirmed it.
“We consider that a six point deduction is the minimum but sufficient sanction required to achieve the aims of the PSR,” the verdict read. “It is reasonable and proportionate.”
Leaf adds: “One got a sense that Everton were scrabbling to find something that it could throw at the original decision.
“The fact that so many of these arguments [seven of Everton’s nine in defence] were rejected confirms that breaches of the PSR are what is known as a ‘strict liability’ offence – so even if you have good arguments as to why you ended up in breach, a future commission is unlikely to be sympathetic.
“This means that we could see more depressed spending in transfer windows going forwards – as we saw in January – as clubs will not want to fall foul of the rules given they are unlikely to get much sympathy from the Premier League or any commission that is constituted to decide their fate.”
Why did Everton’s appeal only partially succeed?
Less certain was how the individuals overseeing the appeal came to some of the decisions.
“The appeal board on the one hand criticised Everton for providing ‘materially wrong’ information and therefore led them to conclude that a significant points deduction was required but on the other hand they criticised the original independent commission for inferring that Everton had not acted with ‘utmost good faith’, and believed that that is what persuaded them to levy a 10-point deduction,” Leaf, whose chapter he co-authored on financial regulation in the legal textbook Football and the Law was twice referenced in the verdict, says.
“This may encourage clubs to be less than frank with the responses that they give to the Premier League in future investigations.”
He added: “The suggestion that the EFL’s sanctioning guidelines should have been taken into account is also odd. Not only are these guidelines for a completely different competition and set of rules, they also are only guidelines and have no legal weight.”
What does it mean for the future?
The Premier League’s new rules, agreed by its 20 members, state that any PSR charges are dealt with in the season the charge is issued. Given Everton’s degree of success on appeal – four points could be the difference between them staying up or going down – clubs are unlikely to accept an initial punishment.
“The appeal decision will further embolden clubs to not accept an initial outcome from an initial commission,” Leaf says.
What does that mean for this season and the two remaining outstanding cases? 24 May is the last date that any appeal verdict can be issued. The last game of the Premier League season is 19 May.
We may find ourselves in the unprecedented territory of a group of nervous clubs waiting five days to find out the outcome of Everton and Nottingham Forest’s appeals to any PSR punishments to know who will be playing in the Championship next season. It is a deeply unappetising prospect.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/nwtP6X9
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