Everton ordered to pay Burnley nearly £40m in Premier League relegation legal case
Burnley have won their landmark legal case against Everton for breaching Premier League financial rules, with the club ordered to pay nearly £40m in compensation.
The verdict by a Premier League independent disciplinary commission – comprising the same three-man panel that deducted Everton 10 points over the same breach in November 2023 – has widespread ramifications for the competition and increases the likelihood of more clubs taking legal action over PSR breaches.
Burnley sued Everton after they were relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2021-22 season. Everton were deducted 10 points for breaching PSR rules in the four-year period up to June 2022, although that verdict was not reached until November 2023. The penalty was later reduced to six points on appeal.
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Premier League rules allow clubs to seek compensation from other clubs that are found guilty of breaching rules.
Everton said: “Everton Football Club is surprised and angered by the decision of a Premier League Independent Disciplinary Commission to order a compensation payment to Burnley Football Club in relation to Everton’s PSR breach in June 2022.
“Everton has appealed the decision and is clear in its belief the ruling is fundamentally flawed in both law and fact. The club does not recognise the findings of the panel in determining Burnley’s relegation from the Premier League in May 2022 was caused by a sporting advantage gained by Everton due to a breach of profit & sustainability rules, for which a substantive sporting sanction has already been received.
“This ruling sets a dangerous and unworkable precedent for English football, given it is constructed on a principle that a club can be in breach of financial rules at any point in a financial year. Everton believes the panel’s ruling misrepresents the clear evidence presented by its legal representatives and that an appeal will be successful.”
