Yahoo News ‘A mess’ - Nuno Espirito Santo slams Premier League over Everton and Nottingham Forest FFP cases
Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo has branded the Premier League’s handling of its Profit & Sustainability cases against his club and Everton as “a mess”.
Everton were handed a further two-point deduction on Monday for a second round of alleged spending breaches, which the Toffees are appealing. This comes after November’s 10-point penalty for exceeding the limit for the previous three-year cycle was reduced to six upon review.
Meanwhile, Forest were handed a four-point deduction last month having been charged alongside Everton in January, and they too are appealing the sanction. There is a possibility that neither case is sorted before the end of the season.
READ MORE: Everton legend backs campaign calling on Premier League chief Richard Masters to resign
The deadline by which the appeals process should be completed is May 24 - five days after the Premier League season concludes. It means that the standings on the last day of the season might not reflect the final table.
Many have branded the situation farcical and Forest boss Santo gave a scathing verdict of the situation. “I’ve never experienced this situation,” he said on Thursday.
“I think none of us has experienced this before. It’s a mess, there's so much going on and we don't clearly know what's going to happen, so let’s leave it this way and wait. Me and the players are only focused on our tasks.”
Santo also noted: “There’s a lot of uncertainty. There’s an appeal going on, we’re still waiting. There’s nothing much to say about that, let's focus on what we have to focus on and wait.”
Releasing a statement on Monday, Everton confirmed their appeal against their two-point deduction. The club says it is “extremely concerned by the inconsistency of different commissions in respect of points deductions applied.”
Meanwhile, Premier League clubs have unanimously voted in favour of bringing in new spending regulations, in principle. The new proposals mirror UEFA’s forthcoming spending limits of 70 per cent of a club’s revenue.
However, differing slightly, the Premier League would allow those not in European competition to spend up to 85 per cent of their revenue, in a bid to cut the gap between the ‘big six’ and the rest. If ratified at June’s AGM, the new rules would come into force for the 2025/26 season.
