Neville slams ‘lawless’ Premier League over Everton punishment

Manchester — Former England defender Gary Neville took aim at what he called the “lawless” Premier League in his podcast over Everton’s 10-point deduction last week that shocked English soccer.

Everton on Friday became the first Premier League club to be deducted points for breaching profitability and sustainability rules (PSR), when the league docked the Merseyside club the points over their finances in the 2020-21 season.

“Everton’s trust and faith [in the Premier League] has gone completely,” television pundit Neville said on his podcast Stick to Football.

“The greed and selfishness is out of control — it’s lawless. The Premier League is a defunct organisation because they've got 20 clubs all voting with self-interest. This has been coming for many years.”

The Premier League was not immediately available to comment.

The immediate deduction saw Everton drop from 14th in the standings into the relegation zone with four points, above bottom side Burnley on goal difference.

The deduction came after Everton posted losses of close to £372m over three years, more than the £250m losses the league allows over that time frame.

Champions Manchester City are facing more than 100 charges of breaking the league’ financial rules.

“The Super League clubs that tried to destroy the whole of European football — they were fined a total of £22m, £3.5m for each team, which is an absolute disgrace and a scandal for what they attempted to do, which was the attempted murder of our game,” said Neville.

The former Manchester United player’s views echoed those of other critics, including Labour MP Ian Byrne who tabled an “early day motion” on Tuesday in parliament condemning the deduction and called for an independent football regulator to be established immediately.

Everton director of football Kevin Thelwell said the Merseyside club will use their penalty as “additional fuel” for the rest of the season.

Reuters