Kieran Maguire: Premier League had commission ‘tied’ over Everton verdict
Kieran Maguire has claimed the Premier League’s rules had the independent commission tied with regard to allowing an exemption for the money Everton spent on their stadium.
This came after the financial expert was asked how Everton had been deemed to have gained a sporting advantage through their spending given most of the overspend went towards the stadium build.
Maguire claimed the stadium spend had a direct impact on their losses and therefore had a direct impact on the punishment, as the commission has made clear it is not a moral arbiter but makes calls based on the rules.
Maguire was speaking on The Price Of Football podcast [27 November] where he stated: “You can understand where they’re coming from. They won’t be moving into the new stadium until 2025 in all probability, and therefore there is no sporting advantage in respect of them investing in future infrastructure.
“This was a strict interpretation of a rule by the commission and the Premier League. It’s difficult to get your head around why they’ve taken such a draconian approach, but it certainly increased Everton’s losses and therefore had an impact on the tariff that was given.
“The commission concludes that it’s not there as a moral arbiter in relation to how the money is spent and that there are already exemptions given for what you might broadly consider to be virtue spending.
“So even if the commission wanted to give a further exemption, it’s effectively tied by the Premier League rules.”
The rules were strictly followed
While you can understand Everton, both the club and fans, complaining about the lack of sporting advantage they actually gained given their on-field struggles despite their overspending, they simply broke the rules regardless of how they did it.
Yes, the overspend may have come as a result of the money towards the stadium project rather than from splashing out on expensive new players, but the rule states that if clubs overspend they will be punished, and that is what’s happened to Everton.
It is not the commission’s job to decide on the moral objections to the decision, nor will they make a call over the reasons for the spending, they simply see that the club has overspent heavily, and deliver the punishment accordingly.
As Maguire says, it is somewhat of a draconian approach to the ruling, but it is the path they chose to go down. To make any exemptions could lead to accusations of bias, so following the rules to the letter is a less problematic way of going about the proceedings.
In other Everton news, Roy Keane has reacted to the fans’ fury.