Finance Expert shares what Everton are saying about QPR as Leicester verdict also shared after Goodison development
Kieran Maguire has questioned the reasoning behind the Premier League’s points-deduction punishment for Everton after looking at previous cases where clubs were handed financial penalties.
The financial expert picked up on punishments handed to Queens Park Rangers and Leicester as a result of previous financial breaches which saw them given financial punishments rather than the sporting one given to Everton.
Maguire claimed the more you look into past cases, the less clarity you reach, but insisted there is no definitive comparison to make with this case the first of its kind.
Speaking on The Price Of Football podcast [27 November], Maguire attempted to explain: “It’s complicated – the more that you look into comparative cases, the less clarity you reach.
“If we take a look at Queens Park Rangers, they were promoted in 2014 on the back of a bit of shenanigans is the only way I could describe it. They were subject to financial penalties, so Everton are saying QPR got to the Premier League due to a breach of FFP, so you can understand that point of view.
“Leicester City and Bournemouth both got promoted, there were issues to do with their finances, they were given a financial sanction, so why not Everton?
“There is no definitive way of saying there are comparable activities because Financial Fair Play only came into existence in 2013 and this is the first case being held with regard to those particular charges.”
A difficult one to explain
In the full podcast, Maguire points to previous sporting sanctions handed to Swindon Town and Luton Town as examples of the type of penalty Everton were given, but under much different circumstances following administrations and illegal payments rather than overpayments.
The QPR and Leicester comparisons appear the most similar cases given their recency and the fact it was the Premier League handing out the sanctions which differ so massively from Everton’s punishment.
However, as this is the first major case of FFP breaches since the rule was introduced, there is no direct comparison to make in terms of judging the harshness of the points deduction compared to potential other punishments including financial penalties.
As a result, Everton have been used as the benchmark for this situation. The ten-point deduction handed to them will set a baseline for any future breaches with Manchester City currently under investigation, and the outcome there will provide more of a comparable case.
In other Everton news, Sky Sports have explained their broadcast of Everton’s protests.