Gary Neville has hit out at the Premier League following the 10-point deduction handed to Everton last week.
The Toffees were plunged into the relegation zone after being stung for a Financial Fair Play (FFP) violation. The decision was roundly criticised, particularly by those who thought the 115 FFP charges hanging over Manchester City's head, as well as the accusations levelled at Chelsea, warranted more scrutiny.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, Neville said that "greed and selfishness" was "out of control" in English football and that the Premier League was now effectively a "defunct organisation". He fumed: "Everton’s trust and faith [in the Premier League] has gone completely.
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"The greed and selfishness is out of control – it’s lawless," he added. "The Premier League is a defunct organisation because they’ve got 20 clubs all voting with self-interest. This has been coming for many years.
"The Super League clubs that tried to destroy the whole of European football – they were fined a total of £22million, £3.5m for each team, which is an absolute disgrace and a scandal for what they attempted to do, which was the attempted murder of our game… football is starting to eat itself."
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The Manchester United legend referenced the recent Premier League vote which denied a proposed ban on loaning players between associated clubs as evidence of rot in the competition. "Let's be clear here, it's financial manoeuvring around FFP, that's what is it," Neville said. "It's complex financials, but generally it's just cheating in some ways isn't it?"
Journalist David Ornstein, who was a guest on the podcast, revealed that 11 clubs in the division have associated parties in football, and said that number could rise to 13 if proposed ownership changes at Man United and Everton are ratified. He also named the eight clubs that voted against the ban; Man City, Newcastle, Chelsea, Burnley, Everton, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United and Wolves.
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The vote came about in response to reports Newcastle were looking to loan Ruben Neves, who plays for Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal, whose owners PIF also own the Magpies. The Portugal midfielder joined Al-Hilal from Wolves for £47m in the summer, and many felt the integrity of the game would be jeopardised if Newcastle were allowed to nab him for free, or for a minuscule loan fee, a few months later.
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