Chair of the Premier League Alison Brittain has gone after Andy Burnham and “entirely refuted” what he said about Everton’s court case.
Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, said that the Premier League was guilty of “regulatory malpractice” because they wanted to add a punishment policy to Everton’s case while it was already being investigated. Burnham also said that the Premier League was using the club as “a pawn” by docking them 10 points for breaking strict spending rules. He did this to show that football does not need an independent referee.
But Brittain has now sent Burnham a three-page letter with a lot of information. Richard Masters, the CEO of the Premier League, has also written to other MPs who have talked to him about the case. Burnham made some claims, and Brittain responded to them. He denied that the independent group made up the punishment as they went along.
In the letter, she says they don’t have a set punishment because of three things. To begin, a strict punishment would take away all of the decision maker’s freedom. The second problem is that it wouldn’t let any mitigating conditions be taken into account. Third, the fact that there was no fixed punishment made the danger bigger.
It also says that in 2020, the 20 clubs were asked if they would like a set punishment for any team that broke the Premier League’s strict rules on making money and staying in business. Everton was one of the teams that fought it.
After what happened with the European Super League, the Premier League did add a set punishment of 30 points for any club that makes threats to leave.
Brittain says that Everton rejected clear warnings about how much they were spending. The club admitted to breaking the PSR, and the investigation and the independent panel that handed down the penalty followed the right legal process.
Burnham said that the Premier League came up with the ten-point penalty in the middle of the process. He said that the group had asked both the Premier League and Everton what they thought would be a fair punishment.
And yet, Brittain made it clear that it is normal to ask both sides what they think about possible punishments in these kinds of situations. The independent panel did not follow either of the suggestions to give a 10-point penalty.
The letter also disagrees with the idea that the Premier League was harsh on Everton just to show their strength because they don’t want an independent regulator chosen by the government. Burnham did write the letter, but he insisted that he was just an Everton season ticket holder and not an official, since the club is not in his district.
Also, it has been said that Sky Sports pulled an interview with Burnham before Sunday’s game between Everton and Manchester United. Sky has said that they have shown both sides fairly, and the Premier League has said that they have not asked for any interviews to be taken down.
