LONDON (AP) — Everton has lodged an appeal against its two-point deduction for breaking financial rules, and the English Premier League wants a verdict to be reached before the last round.
The relegation-threatened club was docked two points last week for overspending in a three-year spell up to the end of the 2022-23 season. It was a second deduction this season, with Everton having already had six points removed — reduced from 10 following an appeal — for breaching spending limits from 2019-20 to the 2021-22 season.
Nottingham Forest, which is just above the relegation zone like Everton, has also been punished for the same offense and announced it has appealed.
Forest’s hearing against a four-point sanction has reportedly been scheduled for next week and the Premier League has said it will do all it can to ensure Everton’s appeal outcome in advance of May 19 — the final day of the season — “for clarity and certainty for all clubs and fans.”
Everton was two points clear of the bottom three heading into a match at Chelsea on Monday, one of its two games in hand. Forest is one point and one place clear of the relegation zone.
Everton admitted to breaching the permitted loss threshold under the league’s profit and sustainability rules by 16.6 million pounds ($21 million) for the second offense.
The independent commission which imposed the sanction disclosed in the written reasons for its decision that the Premier League initially sought a five-point penalty.
This was reduced to two by the commission after mitigation was taken into account, notably that it felt the club was being punished twice in the same overlapping period.
Everton will be aiming to achieve a further reduction through the latest appeal.
A nine-time English champion, Everton has been an ever-present in the top division since 1954.
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