Legal experts say Chelsea are in real danger of a heavy points deduction after the Everton ruling on Friday.
Everton have been hit with a 10-point deduction after being found to have breached ‘profit and sustainability’ rules by the Premier League. Everton intend to appeal the decision.
Lawyer Stefan Borson, who advised Manchester City on their Financial Fair Play case, posted to social media: “Without seeing the judgement/award -10 points for Everton feels harsh for a straightforward FFP [Financial Fair Play] breach to me.
“But reinforces that sanctions against City [if proven] and now Chelsea [if charged and admitted on the off-books payments] will be potentially relegation inducing.
“One thing is for sure, given the scale of this sporting sanction, Chelsea’s calculus [in my opinion] that they could breach PL P&S [Profit and Sustainability] and just take a fine as a cost of doing business, must be in urgent and immediate reconsideration.
“The January window may be interesting. Even in the best case, they can no longer rely on being able to convince an Independent Commission to accept their Covid and Sanctions allowances as exceptional adjustments [to the extent that was the plan.”