Chelsea & Man City stare at Premier League relegation after precedent-setting 10-point deduction for Everton

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FOOTBALL Chelsea & Man City stare at Premier League relegation after precedent-setting 10-point deduction for Everton

Joel Omotto 18:00 - 17.11.2023

Chelsea and Manchester City could be relegated from the Premier League if found guilty over their multiple breaches of financial rules following the heavy sanctions handed to Everton

Manchester City and Chelsea could be relegated from the Premier League after Everton's 10-point deduction for breaching Premier League profit and sustainability rules.

Everton were plunged to 19th position in the Premier League table following their sanction after the club was referred to an independent commission in March for alleged breaches which related to the 2021-22 season and a hearing took place last month.

The Premier League pushed for a sizable points deduction to set a precedent after the club were charged with breaching financial rules back in 2021-22. The Toffees posted staggering financial losses of almost £372million over a three-year period.

That is more than £250m above what the Premier League's guidelines permits clubs to lose over a three-year rolling time frame.

The technical alleged breaches related to accounting treatments, with the League arguing Everton breached profit and sustainability rules (PSR).

Following the heavy punishment, experts are warning that both Premier League champions Manchester City and Chelsea could face even harsher penalties that might lead to relegation after the powerful precedent.

City face 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League's financial rules and Chelsea could face scrutiny over alleged payments connected to former owner Roman Abramovich.

“Without seeing the judgement/award -10 points for Everton feels harsh for a straightforward FFP [Financial Fair Play] breach to me,” Stefan Borson, a lawyer who has advised City, posted on X after Everton's news broke on Friday.

“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.

“One thing is for sure, given the scale of this sporting sanction, Chelsea's calculus [in my opinion] that they could breach PL P&S [Profit and Sustainability] and just take a fine as a cost of doing business, must be in urgent and immediate reconsideration.

“The January window may be interesting. Even in the best case, they can no longer rely on being able to convince an Independent Commission to accept their Covid and Sanctions allowances as exceptional adjustments [to the extent that was the plan].”

Back in February after City were charged with 115 breaches of the Premier League's financial rules regarding sponsors and contracts across a nine-year time span, Borson spoke of relegation being a potential sanction if they were found guilty.

“Alarmist or not, the sheer extent of the PL charges are at a level that IF found proven, must lead to relegation,” he wrote on Twitter at the time.

Reports earlier this week said Chelsea are set to face Premier League scrutiny over a series of payments connected to former owner Abramovich.

The Guardian has claimed that Abramovich, the Russian billionaire who owned the club for 19 years until he was sanctioned by the British Government last year, used offshore companies to make payments for the club.

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