Everton’s owners have not put in place plans for a blind trust should the club qualify for the same European competition as Roma, but believe they have a solution that will enable them to comply with Uefa’s rules.
The Friedkin Group owns both Everton and the Serie A side, and Uefa’s regulations state that clubs owned, controlled or operated by the same entity cannot play in the same competition. Last year, it enforced the rules so that Crystal Palace were forced to drop down to the Conference League to avoid a clash with the French club Lyon.
Other teams in multi-club ownership models have established blind trusts, where one of the clubs are controlled by independent lawyers so as not to conflict with Uefa’s rules. Everton and Roma did not take that step before a March 1 deadline, but insiders said the owners had a “structural solution” that they believe would allow them to pass Uefa’s decisive influence test.
Roma are higher in their domestic league, in sixth place in Serie A Andrea Staccioli/Insidefoto/Shutterstock
It is not clear what that structural solution is, however, and if both clubs qualified for the same competition it would have to go to Uefa’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) to determine if it was acceptable.
If the CFCB decided the solution was not acceptable and both clubs had qualified for the Conference League, for example, one of them would have to drop out. At the moment that would be Everton as Uefa’s regulations state that it should be the team that finishes in the lower place in their respective leagues.
Everton are eighth in the Premier League at present, while Roma are sixth in Serie A and on course to at least secure a Conference League spot.
Last season, a blind trust solution was used for Manchester City and their sister club Girona — both owned by City Football Group — so both could play in the Champions League. The directors of the Spanish club stepped down and were replaced by independent lawyers.
A blind trust — the transfer of assets to an independent trustee to avoid conflicts of interest — was also established for the French club Nice as their owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos, run the operations at Manchester United, who were also in the Europa League.
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