(Credit: Imago)

Jacob Raw

Fri 27 March 2026 12:10, UK

The Friedkin Group have opted against forming a blind trust, a move that would have ensured Everton and Roma could compete in the same European competition without breaking UEFA rules.

The Toffees and Roma did not decide to take up an established blind trust for next season, with the deadline having passed on 1 March, which puts both clubs at risk for the next campaign.

Instead of having the blind trust, where one of the two clubs are controlled by independent lawyers, Dan Friedkin and Co. are believed to have a “structural solution” that will comply with UEFA’s rules, according to The Times.

Setting up a blind trust involves ceding control of a club temporarily, which can limit owners’ influence over transfers and other financial decisions, but TFG decided to retain their power in both Roma and Everton.

David Moyes could lead Everton into Europe with the club currently sitting in eighth place in the Premier League, but the greed of TFG could ruin everything.

This is how Everton now risk European relegation

Everton are just seven games away from achieving their ultimate goal of reaching Europe, which could change their fortunes for years to come.

Moyes has been fighting through multiple issues like a lack of impact from new signings to injuries and absences, and could rightly walk if TFG mess this up.

This “structural solution” is not yet known, despite the fact that it’s TFG’s lightbulb idea to pass UEFA’s decisive influence test.

Roma are currently sixth in the Italian league, and if they were to end up in the same European competition as Everton, then the solution would need to be passed by UEFA’s Financial Control Body for the proposal to be accepted.

A recent example that shows that TFG are playing with fire is Crystal Palace. The Eagles had to drop down to the Conference League with Lyon already in the Europa League, due to ownership conflicts.

Unless the solution is something of a stroke of genius, then Everton need to be praying that they don’t have their hard work stripped away from them, all because of the owners.

It’s clear to see why TFG have done this

It’s no surprise that TFG are taking a different route to other owners that find themselves in this situation, because they want to keep full control over their clubs at all times.

But it does also feel like complete guesswork, and they probably feel safe with this proposed solution due to the fact that it doesn’t look like Everton and Roma will finish in the same European spot.

But what happens if Moyes continues to exceed expectations and Everton finish even higher than a European Conference League spot?

That doesn’t seem to be on TFG’s mind, and may suggest a different picture over the confidence that they truly have in Moyes’ ability to keep overperforming.