by Nottingham Forest are “deeply disappointed” to have been dropped four points for breaching the Premier League’s financial rules.
The deduction drops Forest into the Premier League relegation zone, leaving them 18th with nine games to play.
The PA news agency understands that Forest will now take time to consider the next steps, including the ability to appeal.
The Premier League said Forest had admitted breaching the profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) by £34.5 million over the approved threshold of £61 million.
Clubs are normally allowed maximum losses of £105million over a three-year assessment period but this is reduced by £22million per season for any seasons within the period spent in the Championship.
Forest are unhappy with the Premier League’s submission to the independent commission, which imposed the sanction, and claim confidence in the governing body has now been eroded after initially pushing for an eight-point deduction.
A statement from the club read: “Nottingham Forest is deeply disappointed by the Commission’s decision to impose a four-point sanction on the Club, with immediate effect.
“We were very pleased with the tone and content of the Premier League’s submissions to the Commission.
“After months of engagement with the Premier League, and exceptional co-operation throughout, this was unexpected and damaged the confidence and trust we had in the Premier League.
“That the Premier League was seeking an eight-point sanction as a starting point was completely disproportionate compared to the nine points that its own rules prescribe for insolvency.”
The commission which imposed the sanction noted that Forest’s breach was “serious” and stated in its conclusion: “The four point sanction is not to punish Forest as much as it is fair to the other clubs; to give the public confidence that when a club invests like Forest did to compete in the Premier League, it still needs to meet the PSR threshold for losses.”
The commission’s ruling said: “When a club like Forest took the risk of not effectively heeding the PSR warning of its financial director before the January window in 2023, and instead of looking to sell players, it added players to its squad, leaving itself eventually. with only two weeks to sell Player A (Brennan Johnson) in the 2023 summer window, a proportionate sanction is needed for taking risks and ‘sailing close to the wind’ to maintain the integrity of the Premier League.”
Everton were docked 10 points in November for breaching PSR in the run up to the 2021-22 season, which was reduced to six points on appeal.
The second complaint against the Toffees for an infringement in the period leading up to last season is still being dealt with.
The ruling shows that the Premier League is pushing for a six-point sanction – with eight points as an initial figure to account for Forest’s excess over the threshold being 77 per cent more than Everton’s, but discounted two points for pleading and co- Forest’s early plea to demonstrate. operation.
Forest’s defense was focused on the sale of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham on the final day of the 2023 transfer window, which happened a little later than necessary.
The Commission said that such an event could only be described as an imminent event “if it were very close to the PSR deadline (June 30, 2023) or at the first reasonable opportunity available close to the deadline”.
But Forest hit back, saying the ruling will make it impossible for newly promoted clubs to compete in the league.
The statement added: “While the Premier League may have questioned the club’s business plan, the club says it has responsibly balanced PSR compliance with important investment in the squad to enable us to compete in the league for the first time in over 20 years.
“We were very pleased with the tone and content of the Premier League’s submissions to the Commission.
“Even after the club missed the PSR reporting deadline, it still took steps to ensure Brennan Johnson was sold before the end of the transfer window. That was a clear demonstration of our respect and support for PSR.
“The commission’s decision raises questions that are of concern to all clubs. The player transfer market is a highly specialized trading environment that cannot be compared to selling ordinary products and services.
“There will be occasions when the transfer of a player cannot be completed in the first half of the transfer window and can only be completed at the end of that window.
“This should not be a reason to criticize a club. If the Commission or the Premier League did not recognize this it should be a matter of great concern to fans of our national game.”
