Everton Ordered To Pay Nearly £40m Compensation To Burnley
Burnley have won a legal case against Everton over breaches of Premier League financial rules, with Everton ordered to pay almost £40m in compensation.
The ruling, issued by a Premier League independent disciplinary commission today (10th June) could have major implications for the competition and may encourage more clubs to pursue legal claims over PSR breaches.
Burnley’s claim was brought after they were relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2021-22 season.
Everton were docked 10 points for breaching PSR rules in November 2023, for the four-year period up to June 2022. This was later reduced to six points on appeal.
The club has said they will appeal this latest decision in a statement which read: “Everton Football Club is surprised and angered by the decision of a Premier League Independent Disciplinary Commission to order a compensation payment to Burnley Football Club in relation to Everton’s PSR breach in June 2022.
Everton has appealed the decision and is clear in its belief the ruling is fundamentally flawed in both law and fact.
The Club does not recognise the findings of the panel in determining Burnley’s relegation from the Premier League in May 2022 was caused by a sporting advantage gained by Everton due to a breach of Profit & Sustainability Rules, for which a substantive sporting sanction has already been received.
This ruling sets a dangerous and unworkable precedent for English football, given it is constructed on a principle that a club can be in breach of financial rules at any point in a financial year.
Everton believes the panel’s ruling misrepresents the clear evidence presented by its legal representatives and that an appeal will be successful.
The Club is confident of its ongoing PSR compliance and has also obtained confirmation from the Premier League of its clear position that this ruling should not be the cause of any future PSR sanction. Evertonians can be assured that ownership are focused, with strengthened resolve, on delivering their vision of returning Everton to the top echelon of English football.
No further comment will be made on this matter until the appeal process has been successfully concluded.”
Burnley FC Chairman Alan Pace, said in a statement: “When we were relegated in 2022, we disappointingly accepted the outcome on the pitch. What we could not accept and what no club should be asked to accept was competing in a competition later shown to have been compromised.
“We did not come to this lightly. When resolution through every available channel was declined, formal action was imposed as the only path left to us.
“The Independent Commission has now confirmed, in clear terms, that a rule was broken and a competitive advantage was improperly gained.
“Our action has always been about making football fair. Clubs that comply with the rules deserve to compete on a level playing field. Fans deserve it. The sport demands it. The Commission’s decision affirms the existing framework to protect the game.”
