Lampard Everton 2022

Everton 'comfortable' of Financial Fair Play compliance after Burnley and Leeds legal threat

Everton are "comfortable" that they have not broken the Premier League's Financial Fair Play rules after it was revealed that Burnley and Leeds United have written to the league over potentially major breaches.

The Toffees have been accused of significantly stepping over the £105 million (£131m) three-year threshold that teams are capped to in terms of losses.

But the Merseyside outfit - who secured Premier League survival on Thursday to ensure the Clarets and the Whites must fight it out to avoid the final relegation spot to the Championship - say they have done nothing wrong.

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What have the club said about the claims?

Shortly after the initial allegations were broken by The Times on Friday, Everton responded in a brief statement protesting their innocence, stating they were confident they had not broken the laws of the game.

"We have worked closely with the Premier League to make sure we are compliant," they stated. "We are comfortable we have complied with the rules.

"External auditors have told us what we can and cannot claim against the pandemic. If clubs want to take legal action that's their decision."

What were the claims regarding?

Burnley and Leeds sent a communication to the Premier League last week questioning whether FFP rules had been breached by Everton after they recorded losses of £371.8m ($463.6m) over the previous three-year period.

Teams are not allowed to post losses of in excess of £105m (£131m) over a 36-month stretch, though such financial issues incurred by the pandemic are written off.

Everton claimed £170m ($212m) of their total was due to Covid-19 in thier most recent statements, a figure that would still leave them seriously in breach - and could incur a points deduction if found to be so, effectively relegating them at the expense of either the Whites or the Clarets.

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