Everton points deduction: Appeal board says Farhad Moshiri left £200m stadium deal unsigned

Everton cited a £200million financial black hole left by the collapse of a £200million naming rights deal for their new stadium as a mitigating factor in the profit and sustainability breach but the appeal board states that the club’s majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri did not sign the paperwork.

Everton revealed in January 2020 that Alisher Usmanov’s holding company USM had paid the club £30m for the option of becoming the ground’s main sponsor and by March 14 that year – a week before lockdown for the coronavirus pandemic, another of the major mitigating factors flagged up by Goodison Park chiefs – the Daily Mail reported that the Blues had lined up a £200m naming rights deal for their future home at Bramley-Moore Dock with Usmanov, with sources close to the club telling them that a naming rights deal was “ready to go.”

In a section of the appeal board’s full written reasons dealing with Russian sanctions following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, it is stated: “Mr Moshiri’s evidence was that he hoped Mr Usmanov would invest heavily in an equity stake in the club. The club had already, on 7 January 2020, entered into an option and naming rights agreement for the club’s training facility and new stadium with USM, Mr Usmanov’s company.

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“This was to take effect from Season 2024/25, i.e. after the stadium had been opened; but, Mr Moshiri said, negotiations had reached an advanced stage to bring this forward to FY22, so that the naming rights sponsorship of £10m per season would commence during the construction phase in that