The Premier League have found themselves in a bit of a pickle.
It took until March 2023 for them to decide that Everton had breached Financial Fair Play rules during the 2021/22 season, and in the meantime six teams had been relegated at the expense of the Toffees.
Unsurprisingly, a number of them – Leicester City, Leeds United, Southampton and Burnley – have now joined forces in a bid to sue Everton. Each of them will lose around £100 million per season for being relegated; a situation that may not have played out had the Toffees been deducted points during the 2021/22 campaign or at the start of 2022/23.
The situation has left Premier League chiefs rather red-faced, while Everton – who are also being taken to court by former boss Carlo Ancelotti – could be left in in even deeper financial trouble if each of the plaintiffs’ legal bids win.
But, as bad as it gets, can relegation ever be overturned retrospectively?
What are the Punishments for FFP Breaches?
Given that Everton have been charged by the Premier League for breaching FFP, we can safely assume that they are guilty of the overspend – unless their legal team can find some kind of loophole to exploit. It should be said that the club has vehemently denied any wrongdoing too.
But, assuming that guilt, how can the Merseysiders be punished?
As well as a fine – it never rains but it pours for Everton, another punishment at the disposal of the independent commission that will oversee the case is a points deduction.
That could range from three points all the way up to ten – remember, Everton only avoided relegation by four points in 2021/22 and two in 2022/23.
So, if the Premier League had conducted their investigation more quickly, the Toffees could have been forcibly relegated in either of those seasons with a points deduction.
But as it stands, if the investigation is carried out during the course of the 2023/24 campaign, that’s when any points deduction would take effect – therefore, Everton could be deducted points during that season.
Can a Club Be Expelled from the Premier League for FFP Breaches?
While the four clubs mentioned earlier in this article may secure financial recompense from Everton, it’s almost impossible from a legal standpoint that their relegations will be overturned – there’s no mechanism for that to happen.
The only stay of execution they may be granted is if Everton are expelled from the Premier League altogether – a punishment that the independent commission CAN recommend if they believe the breaches are serious enough.
The question that panel will have to answer is did Everton’s financial ‘doping’ ultimately lead them to avoiding relegation on the pitch? To determine that, they would examine the accounts to see where the Toffees used their ill-gotten advantage – if they found an edge to sign new players or offer higher wages to their existing stars courtesy of their fudged accounts, that would surely be considered a breach of the highest order.
Although fanciful, the idea of expulsion from the Premier League for FFP breaches has been heard before in regards to the lengthy investigation into Manchester City’s alleged financial doping.
It would be scarcely believable if the champions of England were kicked out of the top flight, but if Premier League chiefs believe the punishment should fit the crime then its not completely impossible that expulsion would happen – there is a mechanism for it legally, if nothing else.
Section W.51.4 of the EPL’s rulebook reads that an independent commission can ‘recommend that the league expels the respondent from membership.’
And then Section B.6 continues: ‘The League may expel a Club from membership upon a special resolution to that effect being passed by a majority of not less than three-quarters of such members as (being entitled to do so) vote by their representatives or by proxy at a general meeting of which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution has been duly given.’
Yes, you read that correctly. The other clubs in the Premier League would be allowed to vote on whether City, Everton or whomever are banished from the division or not – it needs 75% of votes to kick out the offending party, which would be 14 or more in this case.
It would be fascinating to see how each club would vote in such a scenario, with those at the top of the table happy to see the back of City and, likewise, those perennially in relegation bother would no doubt vote to banish Everton too.
So can a Premier League club be expelled from the division? Yes….watch this space.