On Friday came the news that Everton had been hit with an unprecedented 10-point deduction

for breaching the Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules.

The club, as you'll know, say they will appeal the decision, the biggest ever sanction imposed

by the Premier League.

Leaving Everton with only four points and in the relegation zone,

despite an upturn in recent form on the pitch.

So today we'll explain why Everton have been punished, what happens next, and what it might mean for clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea.

I'm Ayahuakim Alari. Welcome to the Athletic Football Podcast.

So today we're talking Everton as the first part of the Athletics Crisis Club series, examining the financial state of five European football clubs.

And that's going to be running all week. So keep your ears peeled for that.

In the studio, I'm joined by the Athletic Senior Football News Reporter,

David Orinstein, and also Everton writer, Patrick Boyland as well. Matt, let's start with you. How did they get into this mess? Well, so I suppose the big picture of how do they

get into that mess? Well, you know, years of overspending under Farhead Mushiri. He bought into the

club initially in early 2016

with a kind of goal of returning Everton to the top table. And, you know, he knew that was going

to require some money from spending on the team. And he did. And as part of his plan, he also

wanted to give them an amazing new stadium.

So he was trying to do kind of two things at once, two expensive things at once.

A lot going on there and then you throw COVID into the mix.

Okay, that hit the entire industry, that hurt everybody.

And I think you throw something that's quite unique to Everton, and that is their close reliance on Mashiri's business partner, Alicia Usmanov, who's this very powerful, very rich, Russian oligarch.

Usmanov's companies were big sponsors of Everton.

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