Lawyer: Multiple charges for Everton as Man City number exceeds 115
Everton had multiple Premier League charges, as Manchester City number exceeds 115 – lawyer
Everton didn’t only have a single charge against them from the Premier League but the total number is not known, according to Stefan Borson.
The lawyer, a former financial advisor to Manchester City, wrote on Twitter on 26 November that it was a “dull point of detail” but noted there was “at least” the profit and sustainability charge as well as one of “breaching the duty of good faith” levelled against the Toffees.
He contrasted the fact that the treble-winners have been widely reported to have 115 charges, all denied, as being a result of the Premier League deciding to detail a full breakdown for the Etihad side but just a “one liner” for Everton, although he said that even that number is also inaccurate as the European champions have 129 outstanding.
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Borson wrote: “Just a point of dull detail. Everton didn’t have one charge. The had at least charges of breaching the duty of good faith and the P&S breaches it is just that for some reason the Premier League thought it necessary to detail each breach in MCFC but give a one liner for Everton.
“So we don’t know how many ‘charges’ Everton had because the PL never told us (and City had 129 not 115).”
Borson however ultimately claimed it was “irrelevant” as the numbers are little more than a “soundbite” in his view.
Even stranger
When the Toffees have been cracked down on heavily for the slack governance at Goodison Park in recent years it becomes increasingly clear that the operation on the other side of the case is anything but flawless.
The Premier League’s P&S rulebook has been slammed in itself, while the format and level of the punishment has been widely criticised.
Everton probably couldn’t expect to escape entirely unscathed after racking up hundreds of millions in losses over multiple years, but it is hard to have confidence in the system when the authorities seem to be making things up as they go along.
It might not matter hugely in practice that the league have publicised their cases against Everton and City differently but it only adds to the feeling that there isn’t a proper process by which each club will be treated the same.
In theory an awareness of the Toffees having more than one charge against them might have softened the blow of the size of the points deduction.
But when the club worked closely with the league prior to their referral to the independent commission, which has also been called into question, and operated with an unofficial salary cap as a result there is surely a decent argument against the good faith charge as well.
There appears to be plenty of blame to go around and nobody is coming out with much credit from what is an increasingly rancorous mess.
