Everton ‘ramifications’ on the cards as Leeds United and Leicester City directors tipped to ask ‘serious questions’ of Premier League
There “could well be some ramifications” now that Everton have avoided relegation according to Alex Crook, with directors at Leeds and Leicester tipped to ask “serious questions” of the Premier League.
The Daily Mail had reported on 17 May that were the Toffees to survive there could be legal action taken against the league for allowing spending at Goodison prior to the March referral over an alleged profit and sustainability breach – disputed by the club.
That came the day after the threat of Everton being sued by their relegation rivals if found guilty by the independent commission, in an echo of a similar situation a year prior, and now that the season has ended Crook has mooted the games to begin.
Speaking on the talkSPORT Gameday Podcast Crook said: “There is the elephant in the room here by the way, and that is the threat of potential legal challenges from those teams that have gone down to the Premier League.
“Because you’ve got these FFP charges hanging over Everton’s head, it might result in a points deduction, we don’t know when that will be.
“I think if you’re a Leicester or a Leeds director you’re going to be asking some serious questions of the Premier League and why those charges didn’t come to a resolution sooner.”
After Sam Matterface suggested the Manchester City case meant this situation wouldn’t be sorted for potentially years Crook agreed and said: “I know there has been talk amongst other clubs down at the bottom of the table, even those who had already guaranteed their Premier League future before the final day, that if Everton did stay up there could well be some ramifications.”
Speculation
It was widely reported that rival Premier League strugglers had failed in their attempt to get the Everton hearing brought forward but complaining to the league appears to be futile if the matter is now in the hands of the commission.
The fact is that City have been charged with over 100 alleged FFP breaches compared to a single profit and sustainability allegation against Everton, with Pep Guardiola’s side winning another title this season, and there is no resolution in sight on that front either.
Simon Jordan raised that very point on talkSPORT in a discussion with Jim White on 18 May, so it wouldn’t appear that any pressure from the relegated sides can change the pace at which developments now move.
Everton have maintained that they complied with the Premier League throughout the past two years, and that huge amounts of their recorded losses are permitted due to the new stadium development and Covid-19 allowances.
Until the hearing is held at some point in the future it is only possible to speculate on what findings will come out, but unless the club did one thing and told the league they were doing another it is difficult to see how the governing body could apparently make such a sudden switch.
Relegation clearly heightens the stakes for the two sides that went down, but a lack of clarity over which clubs could reasonably claim to be affected by a breach over a rolling three-year period makes it very difficult to predict what conclusions will be reached further down the line.