'Sanctions against Man City and Chelsea will be relegation inducing'
Tom Weber
- Updated: 19 Nov 2023 12:37 GMT
- 4 min read
The Premier League's decision to dock Everton ten points over a Financial Fair Play breach could have dire consequences for other teams, claims a football finance expert.
On Friday, it was announced that Everton have been hit with a 10-point deduction plunging the Merseyside club into the English top flight's relegation zone. The Toffee's stand accused of breaching the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules.
The club immediately announced that they would appeal the decision and released a statement, which among other things, included the line: "The Club will also monitor with great interest the decisions made in any other cases concerning the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules."
READ: Why Man Utd are punished by Everton's 10-point penalty
This is evidently referencing the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea, who are allegedly repeat offenders when it comes to Financial Fair Play breaches, with the Cityzens in particular accused of a staggering 115 offences. According to football finance expert, lawyer and ex-Man City advisor Stefan Borson, the precedent of this massive decision - over one breach - could have serious consequences for City and the Blues.
What did Borson say?
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, Borson shared his thoughts on the matter. "Without seeing the judgment/award," he wrote, "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."
"One thing is for sure," he continued, "given the scale of this sporting sanction, Chelsea's calculus (in my opinion) that they could breach [Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules] and just take a fine as a cost of doing business, must be in urgent and immediate reconsideration."
MORE: Man City Financial Scandal Explained: What have they been charged with?
"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)."
As to why a verdict on City has not yet been made despite the club's well-known FFP issues, Borson explained that it is due to the sheer volume of alleged offences. "It has many more moving parts, more documents, more witnesses of fact and potentially, more experts."
