Burnley chairman Alan Pace
Burnley chairman Alan Pace
BURNLEY chairman Alan Pace has released a statement after Everton were ordered to pay the club more than £35million in compensation after they were sued over Premier League profitability and sustainability breaches from the 2021-22 season when the Clarets were relegated.
The Toffees were deducted 10 points in late 2023 for financial misdemeanours, a punishment reduced to six points on appeal a few months later, under the previous regime of Farhad Moshiri.
Everton finished four points above 18th-placed Burnley in 2021-22 but the Lancashire club successfully argued that had the six-point penalty for PSR breaches been applied that season then they would have survived at the Toffees’ expense.
The statement from Pace said: “When we were relegated in 2022, we disappointingly accepted the outcome on the pitch. What we could not accept and what no club should be asked to accept was competing in a competition later shown to have been compromised.
"We did not come to this lightly. When resolution through every available channel was declined, formal action was imposed as the only path left to us.
"The Independent Commission has now confirmed, in clear terms, that a rule was broken and a competitive advantage was improperly gained.
"Our action has always been about making football fair. Clubs that comply with the rules deserve to compete on a level playing field. Fans deserve it. The sport demands it.
"The Commission’s decision affirms the existing framework to protect the game.”
Angry Everton officials lodged an immediate appeal at what they view as a “flawed” judgement.