Every few days, an absolute howler seems to present itself in the football world. This time around, it was the Premier League.
The organisation stripped Everton of 10 points today after an independent commission found that the club was in "breach of the Premier League's Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSRs)."
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The PL said that it laid a complaint against the club "earlier this year" with the Merseyside outfit even admitting during the proceedings that it was in breach of the PSRs. The only thing that was disputed was the extent of the breach.
In the span of perhaps less than a year, it was discovered that the Toffees' "PSR Calculation for the relevant period resulted in a loss of £124.5 million, as contended by the Premier League, which exceeded the threshold of £105 million permitted under the PSRs."
It was then deemed suitable to deduct 10 points from a struggling Everton side who has only managed to accumulate four points after 12 fixtures.
As Jamie Carragher pointed out on social media, Everton were co-operative with the league when it came to them looking into the charges. He added that, unlike other teams in the country's top flight, they did not drag the issue in an attempt to avoid being charged.
"The 10 point deduction for Everton is excessive and not right, considering they have been working with the PL about this for the last couple of years.
"Would it have been better to be evasive and try drag it out like other clubs?
"Until other clubs are sanctioned, Everton will feel they are being used to show there is no need for an independent regulator, and they are right," he added.
While the issue for some is perhaps not the PL actually punishing Everton for breaching rules that have been put in place for a specific reason, some of the footballing world would be infuriated by the fact that clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City have been accused of breaching Financial Fair Play regulations, and so far nothing has happened to them, no points have been deducted from them.
Essentially, to refer to the point made by Carragher, the PL accused Man City of breaching more than 100 financial rules. Despite this, Everton were swiftly punished for breaching PSRs, and in addition the club breached the rules by around £19.5 million.
The amount may sound excessive, but in football terms, is minuscule, in comparison to the costs of running a club.
The PL's case with City, meanwhile, has been dragging on since February this year after the reported conclusion of a four-year investigation.
The Citizens charges include failing to provide accurate financial information, failing to comply with UEFA's Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, and, of course, failing to comply with PSRs.
If Everton have received such a tough punishment, then action against other clubs should follow suit, and face the risk of relegation!
Stefan Borson, a lawyer who reportedly played an advisory role to the Citizens, took to Twitter to suggest that relegations for those clubs could very well be possible.
"Without seeing the judgment/award - 10 points for Everton feels harsh for a straightforward FFP breach to me. But reinforces that sanctions against City (if proven) and now Chelsea (if charged and admitted on the off-books payments), will be potentially relegation inducing," he wrote.
To be perfectly honest, an outcome such as this would only be fair. If the PL is really serious about clamping down on financial breaches, punishing everyone equally would be the best way to show it.
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