LONDON (AP) — Everton was handed the biggest sporting sanction in the Premier League's 31-year history on Friday for breaching the competition's financial rules, with the deduction of 10 points dropping the team into next-to-last place in the standings.

The northwest club reported three-year losses totaling nearly 372 million pounds ($454 million) last season. The league’s profit and financial sustainability rules allow clubs to lose a maximum of 105 million pounds ($128 million) over a three-year period or face sanctions.

The league referred Everton to an independent commission in March because of the alleged breach of profitability and sustainability rules, following complaints from a slew of rival clubs.

A five-day hearing was held last month and the commission has now published its verdict, which sees Everton fall from 14 points to four with immediate effect.

That's the same number of points as last-place Burnley. Everton has a superior goal difference.

The club, which is planning to move to a new stadium for the start of the 2025-26 season, said it was “shocked and disappointed” by the ruling and will be appealing.

“The club believes that the commission has imposed a wholly disproportionate and unjust sporting sanction,” Everton said.

“The club,” it added, “does not recognize 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.”

Everton said it would be monitoring “with great interest” decisions made in other cases concerning the league's financial rules.

Both Manchester City and reportedly Chelsea have been accused by the league of various breaches of regulations.

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