Everton could face another costly punishment for breaking the Premier League’s financial rules.
The competition said Monday that both Everton and Nottingham Forest were being referred to an independent commission after breaching its profitability and sustainability regulations.
The league’s rules allow clubs to lose a maximum of 105 million pounds ($133 million) over a 3-year period or face sanctions.
The teams could be punished with a fine or a points deduction, applied this season as part of a fast-tracked process.
Everton have already received a record 10-point deduction for their overspending in the three-year period up to the end of the 2021-22 season. The club appealed against the severity of that punishment.
A top-division club since 1954, Everton are currently in fourth-to-last place in the standings, one point and one spot above the relegation zone. Forest are in 15th place, four points above the bottom three.
Forest’s charge comes after a 2022-23 season — their first back in the Premier League after a 23-year absence — when the club made an unprecedented 21 offseason signings at a cost of $160 million. It also spent heavily in the second-tier Championship in a bid to get promoted.