Everton have received an immediate 10-point deduction after being found to have breached the Premier League’s financial rules.
English top-flight clubs are permitted to lose £105m over three years, and an independent commission found Everton’s losses to 2021-22 amounted to £124.5m.
The punishment is the biggest sporting sanction in the competition’s history and leaves Everton 19th in the table.
The club said they were “both shocked and disappointed” and would appeal.
The Premier League referred Everton to an independent commission in March but did not reveal the specifics of the club’s alleged breach.
That month, Everton posted financial losses for the fifth successive year after reporting a £44.7m deficit in 2021-22.
They admitted to being in breach of the profit and sustainability rules (PSR) for the period ending 2021-22, and the commission found in favour of the Premier League following a five-day hearing in October.
In a statement, Everton said: “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.
“Both the harshness and severity of the sanction imposed by the commission are neither a fair nor a reasonable reflection of the evidence submitted.-BBC