Premier League Punishment Precedent - Good or Bad?

By Louis Kong - Hong Kong SAR 

November, the largest ever points deduction in the history of the Premier League, the top flight of English football, was announced and subsequently put into action. Everton Football Club, hailing from Liverpool, had 10 of their hard earned points taken away from them, dropping them from 14 points to a measly 4, landing them in the relegation zone. Of course, with the quality of their team they’ll likely survive, but the reason why their points were deducted and the implications of that, are much deeper. It proposes serious impacts to the sporting integrity and precedent set on clubs who may see similar punishments in the future, and brought serious uproar in the general public over what they deem as an “unfair punishment.”

Protecting Sporting Integrity

To the world of football, spending massive, almost ludicrous amounts of money is not uncommon - in fact, it’s almost frowned upon if you don’t. The top clubs in the world are at the top because they are the ones willing to splash the cash, after all, you have to spend big to win big, right? Yet, sometimes owners will spend a little too much money, leaving them and their club in the jaws of debt. So how do top leagues ensure their top teams don’t go into debt?

To combat clubs overspending and putting themselves at risk of debt, in 2009, the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) enacted the UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations, also known as FFP. This was due to the fact that out of 655 European clubs surveyed, over half of them had incurred significant losses in the previous year. In 2013, this notion was also implemented in the Premier League. These rules aim to provide financial stability and fair competition, limiting excessive spending and forcing clubs to balance the books. In short, the rules allow for clubs to have a maximum debt of 105 million pounds over a rolling three year period, accounting for individual club revenue, and the remaining debt must be paid off by the owner. 

But what happens when in pursuit of glory, clubs break these rules? Punishments can range from fines, suspensions and points deductions, though as it is a relatively new ordinance, the governing body can impose punishments befitting of the situation. While it was enforced relatively well early on into its tenure, in particular, against Manchester City in 2014 (Gibson). Due to submitting false accounts and having their owners provide over 105 million pounds to aid the club in their transfer business, they were slapped with a 49 million Euro fine, as well as a two year restriction to their transfers and wages. 

However, this notion of punishing the wrongdoers seems to have slipped away over the last few years. Manchester City have an alleged 115 breaches of Financial Fair Play in the years since 2014, Chelsea are under investigation for potential breaches of transfer financial regulations, while Tottenham Hotspur are being investigated for using an unregistered middleman in their transfer of Jermaine Defoe in 2008 (Sky Sports, “Jermain Defoe: FA Looking into Striker’s 2008 Transfer from Tottenham to Portsmouth”). Despite these numerous investigations, so far the only team that have been punished is Everton. 

As expected, the investigation proceeded with due diligence on both ends, culminating in a 5 day hearing, in which the Premier League and its independent council of arbiters agreed that Everton’s losses in the three year period up until 2022 were at 124.5 million pounds, 19.5 million over the permitted debt. In their defence, Everton claimed the figure was closer to 7.9 million over, but stated that they were entitled to this due to certain mitigating factors, which included:

• Their stadium project and loans taken to accommodate for such

• The impact of Covid 19 

• The unexpected termination of a player’s contract 

• Their cooperation with the Premier League

Another factor which affected their income was the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, as they had to suspend all their sponsorships and agreements with companies linked to a Russian Oligarch, Alisher Usmanov. This was impactful to the club as a major point of sponsorship - with Everton receiving around 12 million pounds a year and an additional 30 million for a naming rights option on their soon to be built stadium (Hunter and MacInnes). Everton quickly had to scramble for new sponsorships to even stay afloat. 

In the end however, the council of arbiters of which was hearing the case ruled in favour of the Premier League, allowing them to implement punishments without the hitch of precedent. Hence, Everton were deducted 10 points and as such have been heavily impacted in the Premier League this season. While an appeal has been made by Everton, there is still no news on if and how much the appeal will change things - and even if so, whether or not it’ll be done too late.

The reason why this case has sparked so much uproar and interest among both fans and legal experts alike is due to the implications of such a sporting punishment. When applying sporting punishments such as this one, it is mandatory to consider that it is done not only to punish those clubs who broke the rules, but it also to deter other clubs and set a precedent, as well as protecting the integrity of the league as a whole. 

Looking upon other alleged breaches and charges which other teams have received, it begs the question - Why have Everton been punished so severely? Meanwhile, clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea, who have much more severe breaches, have not been even close to being punished at all. Of course, the reasons and what really has happened will always just be speculation - but you can’t help but wonder - will this precedent, aimed at protecting the integrity of the League, instead harm it in the long run because of this extenuating circumstance?

Perhaps we will see Manchester City finally punished for their 115 breaches - though with the precedent set anything less than relegation to at least the 4th tier seems too weak. Perhaps Chelsea will see punishment for their breaches of Financial Fair Play - though with the precedent set anything less than a 20 point deduction wouldn’t quite seem fair. Perhaps we will never know, and we will just move on from this situation like nothing has ever happened. The outlook for the Premier League is bleak, and it seems confusion is prevalent in the minds of fans and pundits alike for what will happen next. One thing is for sure though - the Premier League is walking a dangerous tightrope, and everyone is looking up at them, waiting to see what happens next. 

Bibliography

Boyland, Patrick. “Everton’s 10-Point Deduction: Why Is the Sanction so Steep and What Does It Mean for the Premier League?” The Athletic, 2023, theathletic.com/5071224/2023/11/18/everton-10-point-penalty-explained/. Accessed 29 Feb. 2024.

Gibson, Owen. “Manchester City Accept £49m Fine and Transfer Cap from Uefa over FFP.” The Guardian, The Guardian, 16 May 2014, www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/16/manchester-city-fine-transfer-cap-uefa-ffp#:~:text=Manchester%20City%20accept%20%C2%A349m%20fine%20and%20transfer%20cap%20from%20Uefa%20over%20FFP,-This%20article%20is&text=Manchester%20City%20have%20reluctantly%20accepted,new%20financial%20fair%20play%20regime. Accessed 29 Feb. 2024.

Hunter, Andy, and Paul MacInnes. “Everton Suspend Ties with Russian Companies Linked to Alisher Usmanov.” The Guardian, The Guardian, 2 Mar. 2022, www.theguardian.com/football/2022/mar/02/everton-suspend-ties-with-russian-companies-linked-to-alisher-usmanov#:~:text=Usmanov’s%20USM%20Holdings%20company%20began,on%20the%20club’s%20new%20stadium. Accessed 29 Feb. 2024.

Sky Sports. “Everton Points Deduction Appeal: Key Questions Answered as Premier League Club’s Deduction Reduced to Six Points.” Sky Sports, Sky Sports, 26 Feb. 2024, www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/13081584/everton-points-deduction-appeal-key-questions-answered-as-premier-league-clubs-deduction-reduced-to-six-points#:~:text=Everton%20were%20deducted%2010%20points%20with%20immediate%20effect%20in%20November,team%20into%20the%20relegation%20zone. Accessed 29 Feb. 2024.

“Jermain Defoe: FA Looking into Striker’s 2008 Transfer from Tottenham to Portsmouth.” Sky Sports, Sky Sports, 23 Nov. 2023, www.skysports.com/football/news/11675/13014450/jermain-defoe-fa-looking-into-strikers-2008-transfer-from-tottenham-to-portsmouth. Accessed 29 Feb. 2024.

UEFA. “UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations.” Uefa.com, 2024, documents.uefa.com/v/u/MFxeqLNKelkYyh5JSafuhg. Accessed 29 Feb. 2024.

Walker, Ron. “Premier League Profit and Sustainability Regulations Explained: What Restrictions Are There on Clubs Spending What They Want?” Sky Sports, Sky Sports, Feb. 2024, www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/13041990/premier-league-financial-fair-play-rules-explained-what-restrictions-are-there-on-clubs-spending-what-they-want. Accessed 29 Feb. 2024.