Everton has been deducted 10 points for breaches of profit and sustainability rules, the Premier League has said.

The penalty, effective immediately, leaves the club with four points and plunges them into the relegation zone.

The club said it was “shocked and disappointed” by the ruling and plans to appeal.

It comes after the league referred Everton in March to an independent commission after reviewing the financial records of all top-flight clubs for the 2021-22 season.

According to the rules, clubs can sustain losses of up to £105m in three years or potentially face penalties.

However, Everton FC reported losses of £124.5million for the relevant period.

Everton FC said in a statement after today’s points deduction: “The club believes that the commission has imposed a wholly disproportionate and unjust sporting sanction. The club has already communicated its intention to appeal the decision to the Premier League. The appeal process will now commence and the club’s case will be heard by an Appeal Board appointed pursuant to the Premier League’s rules in due course.

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“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.”

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

The club added it will also “monitor with great interest the decisions made in any other cases concerning the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules”.

Everton said it cannot comment any further until the appeal process is over.

The Premier League has said in a statement: “During the proceedings, the club admitted it was in breach of the PSRs for the period ending Season 2021/22 but the extent of the breach remained in dispute.

“Following a five-day hearing last month, the Commission determined that Everton FC’s PSR Calculation for the relevant period resulted in a loss of £124.5million, as contended by the Premier League, which exceeded the threshold of £105million permitted under the PSRs.

“The Commission concluded that a sporting sanction in the form of a 10-point deduction should be imposed. That sanction has immediate effect.”

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