Business With Blain: Battle-Weary Premier League Call It Quits
Finally, common sense has prevailed.
By JohnB
The Premier League, via a public statement, first referred Everton to an Independent Commission for an alleged breach of their Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) on March 24th, 2023.
On January 17th, 2025, the Premier League and Everton issued a joint statement, outlining that an outstanding element of a different charge made against Everton on January 15th, 2024, had been discontinued.
“… The Premier League Board has concluded that it would not be appropriate or proportionate to pursue the second part of their complaint.”
During the 683 days between those two statements, Everton had been subjected to two hearings in front of Independent Commissions. The Premier League had successfully argued that exceeding the allowed losses under PSR of £105million in the cycle ending 2021-22 created a sporting advantage, and so the most appropriate punishment was a points deduction. Initially, the Premier League demanded a 12-point deduction for the Toffees, but the IC handed down ‘only’ a 10-point deduction as a punishment, which Everton subsequently had reduced to six upon appeal.
Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest, the only other club successfully charged under these rules, received a four-point deduction for a larger breach of the PSR, while Leicester City successfully argued that the Premier League had no authority over them at the time they sought to punish them with breaching PSR.
It was not surprising, then, that fans of both Everton and Forest, and indeed the wider football family, concluded that the Premier League Board — led by CEO Richard Masters — was making it up as they went along.
Alongside all the tragicomedy comings and goings to court of the “small clubs” (Mr Masters’ words, not mine), the Premier League has as of yet failed to even charge Chelsea for a breach that UEFA punished them for in July 2023, while Manchester City wait for a conclusion to the 100+ charges they faced over alleged breaches of the rules over many years.
City’s case has been processed in secret, with the Premier League CEO even refusing at one stage to say when it would start, which seemed in stark contrast to the private briefings given to journalists during the first Everton case.
The rumour net is in overdrive now about what will or will not happen to Man City and Chelsea, with the most persistent speculation being that both may enjoy the benefit of a negotiated outcome by way of a financial punishment. A slap on the wrist, as it were.
What, then, has happened to the Premier League position that a sporting crime requires a sporting punishment?
Time will tell, of course, but with no current Premier League teams having been charged at all for the PSR reporting period that ended in June 2024, the league does not seem to have the appetite for prosecuting these cases anymore.
They want a clean slate before the expected implementation of a Squad Ratio-based replacement for PSR, which is set to come fully into place from next season.
If that is the case, some clubs will have “gotten away with it”, while others will have suffered by trying to remain compliant, but none will have suffered as much as Everton. Their first down-the-track status brought the largest punishment, while their second case (for the reporting cycle ending 2022-23), which was split into two parts by the IC in early 2024, resulted in a further two-point deduction, though that bifurcated part of the dispute has ultimately resulted in a no-case-to-answer outcome. It has no doubt contributed to millions of pounds essentially being wasted.
The new Independent Regulator for Football, as currently defined, does not have the authority to ensure due process is followed and is transparent or indeed to have oversight of the sanctions issued under PSR or its successor.
That needs to change. Otherwise, the Premier League will continue to be free to make it up as they go along, and we can all guess who the winners and losers are in such an environment.