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Chelsea, Man City Face Relegation After Everton Points Deduction

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Chelsea and Manchester City could be relegated from the Premier League following Everton’s 10-point deduction for breach of Financial Fair Play (FFP).

Everton were adjudged to have breached the Pemier League’s threshold, which allowed clubs to lose a maximum of £105 million ($130 million) over a three-year period or face sanctions. The commission that heard the case stated that the Tofees lost £124.5 million and “concluded that a sporting sanction in the form of a 10-point deduction should be imposed. That sanction has immediate effect.”

According to the Daily Mail, Stefan Borson, a former financial advisor to Manchester City, has argued that the sanction imposed on Everton has set a precedent that could see City and Chelsea relegated from the Premier League as both clubs face counts of FFP breaches.

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City faces 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules, and Chelsea could face scrutiny over alleged payments connected to former owner Roman Abramovich.

READ ALSO: Vinicius To Miss Argentina World Cup Qualifier Due To Injury

In a tweet, Borson argued that Everton’s 10-point deduction was harsh and that Chelsea and Manchester City should be worried.

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His words: 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.

Borson added: ‘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.

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READ ALSO: Fairness Doctrine’ Most Important Doctrine In Journalism Ethics – Ekpu

‘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].”

Only two other clubs have received points deductions in Premier League history.

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Middlesbrough were deducted three points for failing to fulfill a fixture against Blackburn during the 1996/97 season, while in 2010, Portsmouth were deducted nine points after going into administration. However, both clubs were unable to avoid relegation.

Everton have announced that the club will appeal the ‘harsh’ sanction against the club.

READ ALSO: Why We Detained NAF Personnel In Kaduna – EFCC

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The statement reads: “Everton maintains that it has been open and transparent in the information it has provided to the Premier League and that it has always respected the integrity of the process.

“The club does not recognise the finding that it failed to act with the utmost good faith and it does not understand this to have been an allegation made by the Premier League during the course of proceedings.

“Both the harshness and severity of the sanction imposed by the commission are neither a fair nor a reasonable reflection of the evidence submitted.”

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NFF In Fresh N1.4b FIFA Women World Cup Scandal

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Former Super Falcons head coach, Randy Waldrum, has questioned the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) management of the monies that the world football governing body, FIFA, gave the federation for the team’s preparation for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, reports allnigeriasoccer.com.

Waldrum’s team was eliminated from the championship in the second round by England through a penalty shootout. But the American alleged in a viral video on X that his team was handicapped by the NFF’s failure to make available the fund needed to properly prepare the side for the championship.

He alleged that the NFF received $960,000 from FIFA in October 2022 to support the Super Falcons’ preparations for the tournament.

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He said: “I have a real close contact here in the US that is very connected with some of the board at FIFA. This person told me that in October, every country was given $960k from FIFA to prepare for the World, where is that money.

READ ALSO:SWAN Orders Nationwide Boycott Of NFF Activities

“If Nigeria got that money why didn’t we have a camp in November? We went to Japan, we flew in and played the game and went home. Some of our players didn’t arrive until the morning before the game, I think five players who were going to start for me, arrived the night before the game and the game was 4:00pm and they traveled 16 hours on the plane. And we played Japan and then we went home. We wasted the last five days of that window to train.”

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Waldrum, who affirmed that FIFA provides financial support to federations that are unable to afford business-class travel, with deductions made from their World Cup earnings.

According to him, the NFF had no justification for suboptimal logistics. “So, all these questions I have is where is this money? And the other thing I found out through my FIFA connections is that if countries don’t have the money to buy business class tickets for everybody, FIFA will fund the money and buy those tickets and just deduct it from the monies you get from FIFA after the World Cup.

“So there’s no excuse to say we didn’t have money to buy tickets and then we didn’t have camps. These are the kinds of things that the people of Nigeria don’t question. In the US, they would be questioned. If the US Soccer Federation was doing the same things, the US Soccer Federation would have to answer to it.”

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READ ALSO:JUST-IN: NFF Pulls Out Super Eagles From AFCON Qualifier After Libya Airport Nightmare

The coach also faulted the NFF for failing to maximise FIFA-approved staffing provisions, noting that while FIFA allows up to 22 technical staff members, Nigeria travelled with only about 11.

“So if FIFA will pay bonuses for up to 22 people, why didn’t we have 22 people? I didn’t have an analyst and I scout. Listen, the US has a scout in Europe, watching teams play in these exhibitions, in case they face them at the World Cup,” he explained.

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“We didn’t even have scouts going with us to Australia. I didn’t even have anybody to scout games. If we got out of our group, I didn’t even have anybody to scout games in other groups. Everything I had to do was on videos and what I could pick up online.”

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EPL: Berbatov Names Team That Can ‘Surprise’ Arsenal In Title Race

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Former Manchester United striker, Dimitar Berbatov, has named the team that could “surprise” Arsenal in the Premier League title race.

The Gunners are now six points clear of second-placed Chelsea, thanks to their 4-1 demolition of Tottenham on Sunday.

Mikel Arteta’s men could extend that lead to nine points, when they travel to face the Blues this weekend.

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READ ALSO:EPL: Why Arsenal Could Win The Title This Season – Guardiola

Berbatov has now said he expects Arsenal to be “really tested” over the hectic festive period and says their title credentials will become clearer in the New Year.

Of course Liverpool are low in the table and Man City are dropping points, but there are other teams like Chelsea who can surprise people,” Berbatov told ESPN.

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Six points is a good cushion but in the Premier League it’s nothing and can go very quickly.”

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Champions League: Arteta Gives Arsenal Injury Updates Ahead Bayern Munich Clash

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Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has given injury updates on his squad ahead of Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich.

The Gunners have won their first four matches in the competition without conceding a single goal.

Arteta’s men will be looking to continue their perfect start with a win over Bayern at the Emirates.

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READ ALSO:EPL: Arteta Wants FA To Overturn Lewis-Skelly’s Red Card In Arsenal Win

Arsenal could have captain Martin Odegaard back for the game, alongside Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke.

“Yeah they are [Madueke and Martinelli in contenton to start] and we’re going to have a meeting now to decide on Martin [Odegaard],” Arteta told reporters today.

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“He was very close for the previous game.

“We are confident he can be in the squad as well.”

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