General view of Goodison Park, Everton’s home ground. Picture: Mike Morese, MI News, NurPhoto via AFP)
Former England defender Gary Neville took aim at what he called the “lawless” Premier League in his podcast over Everton’s 10-point deduction last week that shocked English football.
On Friday last week, Everton became the first Premier League club to be deducted points for breaching profitability and sustainability rules (PSR), when the league docked the Merseyside club the points over their finances in the 2020/21 season.
“Everton’s trust and faith (in the Premier League) has gone completely,” television pundit Neville said on his podcast, Stick to Football.
“The greed and selfishness is out of control – it’s lawless.
“The Premier League is a defunct organisation because they’ve got 20 clubs all voting with self-interest. This has been coming for many years.”
The latest episode of Stick To Football is now live! ⚽️
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) November 23, 2023
This week David Ornstein joins us to talk about Everton’s points deduction and the vote to ban loan deals between associated clubs.
Have a watch/listen if you like 👍https://t.co/9uedyttU8R pic.twitter.com/lgUSapSmF9
The Premier League was not immediately available to comment.
The immediate deduction saw Everton drop from 14th in the standings into the relegation zone with four points, above bottom side Burnley on goal difference.
Manager Sean Dyche’s team is back in action on Sunday in a Premier League clash against Manchester United at Goodison Park (6.30pm kick-off, SA time).
The deduction came after Everton posted losses of close to £372 million over three years, more than the £250m losses the league allows over that time frame.
Champions Manchester City are facing more than 100 charges of breaking the league’s financial rules.
“The Super League clubs that tried to destroy the whole of European football – they were fined a total of £22 million, 3.5 million for each team, which is an absolute disgrace and a scandal for what they attempted to do, which was the attempted murder of our game,” said Neville.
The former Manchester United player’s views echoed those of other critics, including Labour MP Ian Byrne, who tabled an ‘early day motion’ on Tuesday in parliament condemning the deduction and called for an independent football regulator to be established immediately.
Everton’s director of football Kevin Thelwell said the Merseyside club will use their penalty as “additional fuel” for the rest of the season.
Reuters
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