Everton: Journalist details why ‘significant’ appeal decision was made today live on talkSPORT
The independent appeal panel decided to overturn the decision that Everton had failed to “act in the upmost good faith” after their punishment has now been reduced, according to Alex Crook.
Speaking on talkSPORT on Monday (26 February), the journalist said the decision to reduce the points deduction from 10 points down to six is “significant” for the likes of Luton Town as well as the Toffees in their bid to beat the drop this season.
He added that the appeal board took the view that the 10-point sanction imposed by the commission was “inappropriate” when compared to the available benchmarks, something the Blues had drawn to the commission’s attention.
“This is significant, not just for Everton, but of course for all the teams fighting against relegation,” said Crook. “It puts them back onto 25 points, they move up to 15th in the Premier League, so it’s bad news for the likes of Luton, Sheffield United and Burnley are already probably gone.
“I’m getting more information on it all the time. I just had a message to confirm that the independent appeal panel has decided to reduce the points deduction from 10 to six.
“So, as expected, the appeal board overturned the commission’s finding that the club failed to act in the upmost good faith, which along with reducing the points deduction, was an incredibly important part of the principle of this appeal for the club.
“The appeal board took the view that the 10-point sanction imposed by the commission was inappropriate when compared to the available benchmarks, which the club had drawn to the commission’s attention.”
Everton will be delighted by points deduction appeal ruling
There is no doubt that Everton will be delighted by the outcome of their points deduction appeal as they now have a reasonable gap to the teams in the relegation zone.
The initial ruling was deemed to be harsh by many interested onlookers back in November and there has long been a feeling that they were likely to receive some points back.
It wasn’t clear how many points that could indeed be, but four is a decent outcome for the Toffees as anything would have been a bonus.
Following the 1-1 draw with Brighton on Saturday (24 February), Sean Dyche will now be looking to use this news as a springboard to help them climb up the Premier League table again.
While the possibility of a further deduction does loom over the Blues following their second charge for breaching the Premier League’s spending rules, this is a positive day for the club.
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