Nottingham Forest and Everton are accused of violating Premier League financial rules.
Jamie Carragher feels Everton will face a lower punishment than Nottingham Forest for the Premier League financial allegations lodged against them in January.
On Monday, the Toffees’ 10-point deduction for last season’s violations was cut to six, although they, like Forest, remain under investigation for the most recent charges. A decision on these is due in April, although any appeals might push the process beyond the end of the season.
Everton supporters are outraged at the prospect of being fined again in the same season for two of the years they have already been charged with. The Premier League Profit & Sustainability regulations take into account a three-year rolling financial term.
Clubs are allowed to lose a maximum of £105 million over three years, with Everton exceeding this limit between 2021 and 2023. According to regulations, losses from the last two of those three years apply to the current three-year term this time around.
The Everton supporters’ complaint stems from the Premier League’s new financial procedures, which require clubs to submit their records for the previous season by December 31. These changes have been designed to expedite the resolution of’simple’ financial infractions, allowing fines to be imposed during the current season.
This modification went into effect in December, and Forest and Everton were expected to submit their cash reports by New Year’s Eve. Both clubs have been accused of breaching cash-loss restrictions between 2022 and 2024, as well as risk-point deductions.
Carragher stated that the reduction of Everton’s November penalty “feels about right,” adding that “it’s never happened before, this is the first time a team has been fined for this, so no one really knows what the right punishment should be.”
The former Liverpool player believes Everton’s earlier sentence may result in a smaller sanction than Forest’s.
Carragher stated on the Stick to Football podcast, sponsored by Sky Bet, that Everton’s sanction is from last season, whilst Nottingham Forest’s problem is from this season. The issue with Everton is that while the sentence is for three years, the current one includes two [from the previous two].
“What they’re saying is, ‘We’ve already been punished for those three years, and two of those [charges] are in there, so we can’t be punished for another six points, when we’ve already been punished for those two years.'”
“I think Everton might get one or two points, and Nottingham Forest will probably get six [points].”
