Trouble continues at Everton. Guilty of having breached the rules on English financial fair play during the 2021-2022 season, Everton initially received a ten-point withdrawal. A sanction reduced to six points a few days ago by the Premier League, which allowed the English club to escape the relegation zone. However, the club is not at the end of its troubles according to The Sun. Burnley, Leeds, Leicester, Nottingham Forest and Southampton have signaled their intention to take the Toffees to court. Confirmation that Everton gained a sporting advantage by breaching the Premier League’s financial fair play rules has prompted these clubs to seek legal action. Burnley and Leicester say they are direct victims of Everton’s misconduct and are demanding money for the financial damage caused.
In total, the Toffees could be required to pay more than £100 million (€116 million) in compensation. But another bad news will hamper the sporting projects of Everton, already in bad shape with this 16th position in the ranking. Enough to plunge the club into an even deeper crisis. Indeed, the takeover by 777 Partners, a large company which notably includes the clubs of Genoa, Vasco da Gama, Hertha Berlin, Standard de Liège, Red Star, Sevilla FC in Spain and even Melbourne Victory FC, is still blocked for reasons administrative reasons. The management of the English league has not yet given the green light on the reliability of the buyout plan and the financing project of the Liverpool club. A dispute which must be quickly resolved, at a time when Everton must finalize major works on the new stadium based at Bramley-Moore Dock, for an inauguration planned for 2025.
The acquisition of 777 Partners still blocked
Everton’s future owner 777 Partners is set to meet with the Premier League this week. This American investment company has received verbal confirmation of an upcoming meeting but an exact date has not yet been set. These US executives had hoped to discuss the takeover with Premier League officials last week, but that has not yet happened. As a reminder, 777 Partners reached an agreement with Everton owner Farhad Moshiri last September to purchase a 94.1% majority stake in the Merseyside club. The deal received clearance from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in December but has not yet been approved by the Premier League. Early indications suggested the takeover would be finalized by the end of 2023, but there has been little positive progress in recent months.
Doubts over 777 Partners’ proposed takeover of Everton grew last month after it was confirmed a major source of its funding was set to be cut off. Indeed, A-Cap, a New York-based financial services and insurance company, has provided 777 with hundreds of millions of dollars in loans and reinsurance over the past three years, but it had strained its relationship with 777 Re, the company’s reinsurance subsidiary. 777 has loaned Everton £190m (€241m) in several transfers since signing the original deal, which has been used for working capital and invoices for the club’s new stadium project. These loans are expected to be transformed into equity if the buyout is approved. Should this week’s meeting take place, it would be an opportunity for the Premier League to discuss documentation submitted by 777 Partners as part of the league’s Owners and Directors Test (OADT).
Co-founders Josh Wander and Steven Pasko, both listed on change of ownership documents, are currently in the UK ahead of a possible reunion. The two men also attended Everton’s 3-1 defeat against West Ham on Saturday alongside the football group’s general manager, Don Dransfield, and another member of the board of directors, Andres Blazquez. , who is also president of Genoa, also affiliated with the 777 network. The Premier League has already written to the Americans to ask for more clarity on certain questions concerning the rules to be respected in the official OADT test and the company’s three-year plan for Everton . 777 bosses do not expect a decision to be made immediately after any meeting, with the Premier League likely to refer to an independent monitoring committee to check whether due process has been followed, a step which could take about a week. Note that the rumble continues internally with several English clubs ready to go against this takeover, including the former vice-president of Arsenal, David Dein, who has already put pressure on the Premier League regarding the procedure operated by 777.
