Nottingham Forest lose appeal against Premier League points deduction

Nottingham Forest‘s bid to overturn a four-point penalty for violating Premier League financial regulations has been unsuccessful.

Forest received the penalty from an independent commission in March for breaching the profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) threshold, surpassing it by £34.5 million against the stipulated £61 million.

Despite Forest’s prompt intention to appeal, an independent appeal board panel has upheld the original penalty, which pertains to a three-year assessment period culminating in the 2022/23 season.

As a result, the club, currently in 17th place in the Premier League table, maintain their standing at 29 points, just three points above the relegation zone, with two games remaining.

Forest had contested the severity of the punishment, citing the significant sale of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham, which occurred two months after the end of the 2022/23 financial year, as a mitigating factor.

Additionally, they argued that the commission erred in not suspending any or all of the points deduction.

However, the appeal board dismissed these arguments, affirming the commission’s decision to impose the four-point deduction immediately.

A statement published on the Premier League website reads:

“The club argued that the independent commission committed an error in not treating its sale of a high-profile player shortly after the assessment period as a mitigating factor and that it committed a further error in electing not to suspend some or all of the points deduction it imposed.

“Each of these grounds was rejected by the appeal board, which found the independent commission was entitled to immediately impose the sanction it did.

“The four-point deduction will therefore remain in place.”

This ruling follows a similar case involving Everton, who received a 10-point deduction for breaching PSR, later reduced to six on appeal. Additionally, a separate two-point deduction imposed on Everton for another breach is currently under appeal.

While Premier League clubs typically face maximum allowable losses of £105 million over a three-year assessment period, this is reduced by £22 million per season for any years spent in the Championship within the period.

Forest, a two-time European champion, secured promotion to the Premier League in May 2022, resulting in two seasons of their three-year assessment period spent in the second tier.