Four points have been deducted from Nottingham Forest for breaking the profit and sustainability regulations of the Premier League.
An impartial panel concluded that Forest’s 2022–2023 losses were £34.5 million more than the £61 million requirement.
They enter the Premier League’s relegation zone below Luton Town as a result of their quick point loss.
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According to Forest, the decision “raises issues of concern for all aspirant clubs” and they are “extremely disappointed.”
A statement from the club read: “After months of engagement with the Premier League, and exceptional cooperation throughout, this was unexpected and has harmed the trust and confidence we had in the Premier League.”
Following Everton’s November point loss of ten, which was subsequently lowered to six on appeal, Forest is the second premier league team to be punished for PSR violations.
The City Ground club held a hearing on March 7-8 and is expected to file an appeal against the decision.
Premier League teams are allowed to lose up to £105 million over the course of three seasons, or £35 million each campaign. However, because Forest played in the Championship for two of the evaluation period, they were only allowed to lose up to £61 million.
The Premier League first recommended that Forest be punished eight points “before mitigation,” however it was later reduced to six because this infraction was 77% more than Everton’s.
“Very disproportionate in comparison to the nine points that [the Premier League’s] own regulations stipulate for insolvency,” according to Forest, this beginning point was set.
The panel concluded that throughout the process, Forest showed “exceptional cooperation” with the Premier League.
That degree of cooperation, Forest claimed, was “not reciprocated” by the Premier League.
The written conclusions of the commission provide an explanation for the four-point deduction.
The six points Forest were supposed to lose were lowered to four thanks to their “early plea” and “cooperation”; three points were deducted for the first breach and three more for its size.
As per the league’s regulations, the appeals procedure must “conclude no later than and if possible some time before 24 May”—that is, five days following the season finale.
Forest lost £3 million on average in 2020 and 2021, an additional £40 million in 2022, and £52 million in 2023, for a total loss of £95 million.
After being promoted in May 2022, they made five loan signings that summer and recruited a record-breaking 22 new players from Britain. They spent £142.8 million on transfers during the 2022–2023 season.
In terms of departures, Forest loaned out nine players, released two, and sold two players for a fee.
After Forest and Everton were penalised in January, the Premier League released a statement stating that both teams had “confirmed that they are in breach of the league’s profitability and sustainability rules.
