Andy Burnham pens letter to Premier League following ‘abuse of process’ against Everton over points deduction
Mayor Andy Burnham has penned a letter accusing the Premier League of malpractice and “abuse of process” after they issued Everton with a points deduction for breaches of FFP earlier this month.
A lifelong Everton fan, the Mayor of Greater Manchester has lodged an official letter of complaint against the footballing body following his team’s punishment on 18 November, which included being docked an unprecedented 10 points in the table, leaving them in joint last place with Sheffield United.
The Aintree-born politician has now joined several others in contesting the top flight’s decision on the grounds that they decided to implement “new rules in the middle on an ongoing case” and that the independent commission is “flawed” in general.
Sharing his official complaint to the Premier League on social media, the 53-year-old equated their conduct during the investigation to an “abuse of process and regulatory malpractice”.
As the Labour MP details in the lengthy statement, the sanctions policy was changed as recently August (months after the investigation into Everton’s finances first began) and argues that the one “should have had one in place before it commenced these proceedings and established this Commission”.
Burnham goes on to concede that while the Toffees must still answer for irregularities in their bookkeeping — the club largely attributing their losses to post-pandemic recovery and the money invested in developing the new stadium — the points deduction should be “null and void” until a full agreement on due process has been agreed by all clubs.
To a similar effect, he also asked whether at any point the sanctions regime has been submitted to the 20 teams and, if so, why they haven’t been consulted before now.
He also questioned why their £20 million breach of profitability and sustainability rules is worth a 10-point deduction but going to administration, i.e. unable to pay your way and creditors full stop, is deemed to be worth nine in comparison.
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Everton fans have unsurprisingly left incensed by the Premier League’s decision with thousands of supporters protesting before their 3-0 loss to Manchester United on Sunday.
One thing that Andy Burnham’s letter doesn’t touch is also the Man City of it all, with countless football fans across the questioning raising an eyebrow as to why Everton have been charged but the blue side of Manchester has not despite their 115 charges.
Although it is obviously a very complex case that won’t be resolved any time soon, in a nutshell, here are a few reasons why:
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Featured Image — Mayor of Greater Manchester (via X)/Everton (via Instagram)