The Premier League has been taken by storm after news came out that Everton will face a 12-point deduction after breaching a single FFP rule. Fans and pundits online are convinced that Everton will not survive after this season.
When Sean Dyche came in at the end of the season, he managed to survive relegation but currently, he will have a bigger job at his hands even without the points deduction, the team from Merseyside is only 3 points above the drop zone. Everton has incurred a massive financial loss of around $388.3 million, which is almost thrice the permitted amount.
Jamie Carragher recently called out the Premier League saying that Manchester City should have faced the same consequences and said “Man City are going to end up in the National League North if the Premier League get their way”. Currently, an independent commission is hearing the case and will announce the result later this year.
Fans online are also not happy with the biased treatment of clubs as they have commented on a post made by Sky Sports saying, “What about city’s 115 charges”, “Man city should be punished for their crime too then”, “The Man City case disappeared”, “Direct entry to relegation”, “Double standards at its best, how about City’s 115 charges?”, “It’s okay if City does it but not Everton makes sense”
The Premier League has recommended Everton face a 12-point deduction in its case against them for breaching profit and sustainability rules 📰 🔵
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 26, 2023
All this drama is happening while Everton is in the process of a financial takeover by a US-based investment club, which seems to be getting off rails by this recent news. It remains to be seen how the Premier League acts and whether or not City will face ramifications too.
FFP Breaches done by Manchester City
The treble winner’s Manchester City have been accused of breaching FFP or Financial Fair Play on 144 separate occasions
Rui Pinto, a hacker published some documents revealing that City has lied about their sponsorship money by inflating them to evade the rules, Also there were many proofs of the club running an off-the-books player recruitment fund. It was reported that the club is not entirely truthful about their funding.
Simon Cliff, a City Lawyer infamous text got leaked which stated “One down, six to go” soon after one of UEFA’s 7 investigators involved in the case had passed away.
Furthermore from 2009 till 2018, The Premier League has charged the City with over 100 breaches of FFP as they failed to provide any accurate financial information on several occasions. In 2021, City was also accused of not cooperating with the investigation.
#EFC facing a record break 12 point deduction, as recommended by the premier league. This punishment is due to their breach of FFP. Emergency board meeting held today at Goodison.
Manchester City next? #MCFC pic.twitter.com/2ypuN3Qd6s— J A M E S (@LFCJxmesc) October 25, 2023
Manchester City was also accused of not disclosing their managers’ financial remuneration over four years until 2022. UEFA has also accused them of not complying with FFP rules for over 5 years which eventually led to a ban that was shortly lifted without any further calls.
Manchester City responded to all these allegations by saying that they are not true and Pep Guardiola even famously said “We will be there” when asked about these allegations in a press conference last season.
If found guilty possible punishments include anything from points deduction to possible expulsion from the Premier League. Currently, the Premier League has referred City to an independent commission, which will take the case to whom Manchester City can appeal. It remains to be seen whether or not, the Premier League give the same harsh treatment to their champions or not.