Everton were rocked with a 10-point deduction on Friday and the precedent set will now have both Man City and Chelsea worried about their Premier League futures.
The Merseyside club were handed the heaviest punishment ever given to a Premier League club for breaching financial fair play rules and the deduction leaves the Toffees 19th in the league standings with just four points.
Everton will appeal the decision but the verdict will leave Manchester City and Chelsea worried about their ongoing financial investigations.
The Premier League champions face 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules and Chelsea could face scrutiny over alleged payments connected to former owner Roman Abramovich.
In the aftermath of the decision regarding Everton, Stefan Borson, a lawyer who has advised City tweeted: “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.”
Everton’s punishment seems very harsh and it looks like the Premier League wanted to set a precedent using the Toffees as an example. This will worry both Man City and Chelsea as their crimes are much worse and as Borson says, it could lead to the two English giants being relegated.