In their first points deduction hearing, Nottingham Forest and Everton were given different treatment, according to former Everton manager Keith Wyness.
The 66-year-old, who ran an elite football consulting firm after serving as CEO of Goodison Park from 2004 to 2009, stated that a “standardised system” should be implemented for handling financial charges in order to ensure fairness in an interview with Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast.
Nottingham Forest was given a four-point deduction on Monday, March 18, for violating the Profitability and Sustainability Regulations (PSR) following three seasons of overspending, amounting to £34.5 million.
This is true even though Everton was first fined ten points (which was later lowered to six following an appeal) for breaking the regulations by spending £19.5 million.
The Toffees were charged with providing “misleading information about stadium financing costs” in their report on the breach by an impartial panel of legal experts.
‘It’s very difficult to say that each case has been handled exactly the same’, says ex-Everton CEO
Wyness claimed a different panel could have taken a different view on Everton’s submissions.
“The commission found that Everton supplied objectively misleading information in the first case,” he said on Football Insider’s Insider Track podcast.
The issue, though, is that many people have differing opinions about what transpired because every case is examined by a separate, impartial panel.
People’s opinions on what constitutes deception vary, which furthers the misunderstanding.
It is really impossible to say that every situation has been treated precisely the same way until you have a standardised procedure in place.
The commissions are claiming that you must have had a sports edge because you spent more money.
It’s difficult for me to understand how Everton was able to obtain a competitive edge. This club is losing games and is at the bottom of the table.
“The perspective that has been adopted is so arbitrary.”
