Nottingham Forest has officially lodged an appeal against the four-point deduction imposed on them for breaching Premier League financial regulations.
In a statement released on Monday, the club confirmed their appeal against the sanction, which was imposed for violating the Premier League’s Profit & Sustainability Rules.
The club’s statement, posted on its website, indicated their intent to contest the penalty but refrained from providing further details at this time.
“Nottingham Forest can confirm that it has today lodged an appeal against the four point sanction imposed by the Commission in relation to the Club’s breach of the Premier League’s Profit & Sustainability Rules,” the club said in a brief statement on its website.
“The club will not be making any further statement at this time,” added Forest.
The Premier League club received the four-point deduction on March 18 after admitting to exceeding the profitability and sustainability rules (PSR), threshold by £34.5 million, surpassing the £61 million ($77.5 million) limit.
This setback saw Nottingham Forest slip into the relegation zone, one point behind 17th-placed Luton and four adrift of Everton.
Premier League clubs are usually allowed maximum losses of £105 million over a three-year assessment period but this is reduced by £22 million per season for any seasons within the period spent in the Championship.
Nottingham Forest expressed their dismay over the ruling and criticized the Premier League’s stance, highlighting the club’s cooperation throughout the process.
“We believe that the high levels of cooperation the club has shown during this process, and which are confirmed and recorded in the commission’s decision, were not reciprocated by the Premier League,” Forest said in a statement last week.
Despite their objections, the commission upheld the sanction, citing the seriousness of the breach and the need for fairness among clubs.
Forest were promoted back to the Premier League in May 2022 following a 23-year absence, meaning two seasons of their three-year assessment period were as a Championship club.
Forest are the second top-flight team to be penalised for PSR breaches this season after Everton were hit with a 10-point penalty in November, which was reduced to six on appeal.
The commission which imposed the sanction against Forest noted the club’s breach was “serious”.
“The four points sanction is not to punish Forest so much as it is to be fair to the other clubs; to give the public confidence that when a club invests as Forest did to compete in the Premier League, it still needs to comply with the PSR threshold for losses,” said the commission.
Forest’s defence was centred around the sale of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham on September 1, 2023, but this deal occurred after the PSR deadline on June 30.
With a second complaint against Everton still being processed and now Forest’s appeal, relegation from the Premier League this term may end up being decided in the courts days after the last ball has been kicked on the pitch.
