Kieran Maguire issues ‘100 per cent’ verdict on Everton points deduction after £260m FFP news
There is no chance that Everton will be slapped with a points deduction for breaching profit and sustainability rules this season.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the latest events behind the scenes at Goodison.
The Daily Mail reported on Tuesday (8 March) that the Toffees are set to negotiate with the Premier League over their accounts.
It is understood that a points deduction is on the cards as their losses are expected to exceed £260m over the last three years.
Clubs are currently permitted to lose just £105m over a rolling three-year period under the Premier League’s FFP system.
But Maguire explains how Everton could get off the hook because of technical factors relating to their stadium move.
“I’m 100 per cent sure there’s almost no chance that they will get a points deduction this season,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“The Covid add-backs system, the money the can chalk up to the pandemic, will make a difference.
“Also, because planning permission at the stadium had not been granted, all costs to do with the stadium had to be written off in the accounts.
“Now they have planning permission, the club can reverse out those costs and add them to construction costs.
“So they’ll effectively be able to recalibrate those and count them as infrastructure costs, which are exempt from FFP.
“So the losses are bad but there is the opportunity to reduce those losses in the accounts.”
Everton are expected to confirm their financial results for 2020-21 before the end of April.
They were hit by another FFP blow this week as Russian benefactor Alisher Usmanov was forced to scrap his sponsorship deals with the club.
In other news, pundit issue “100 per cent” claim about Nathan Patterson replacing Seamus Coleman at Everton.