London: Nottingham Forest appealed on Monday against a four-point deduction imposed on them for breaching the Premier League’s financial rules.
“Nottingham Forest can confirm that it has today appealed against a four-point sanction imposed by the Commission in relation to breaches of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules,” the club said in a short statement on its website.
“The club will not be making any further statements at this time,” Forest added.
On March 18, the Premier League club was awarded four points after admitting it exceeded its £61 million ($77.5 million) Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) by £34.5 million.
In response, Forest said they were “extremely disappointed” by the decision and “appalled by the tone” of the Premier League’s argument.
“We believe that the high level of cooperation shown by the club throughout this process, which is acknowledged and recorded in the commission’s decision, has not been reciprocated by the Premier League,” Forest said in a statement last week.
A four-point deduction meant they dropped into the relegation zone, one point behind 17th-placed Luton and four behind Everton.
Premier League clubs are normally allowed maximum losses of £105 million over a three-year assessment period, but this is reduced by £22 million per season for each season spent in the Championship.
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Forest were promoted back to the Premier League in May 2022 after a 23-year absence, meaning two seasons out of their three-year rating period were as a Championship club.
Forest are the second top team to be penalized for PSR infringements this season after Everton received a 10-point penalty in November, which was reduced to six on appeal.
The commission that imposed the sanction on Forest noted that the club’s breach was “serious”.
“The four-point penalty is not so much to punish Forest as to be fair to the other clubs; to give the public confidence that when a club invests like Forest in order to compete in the Premier League, they must still comply with the PSR Loss Limits,” the commission said.
Forest’s defense was focused on selling Brennan Johnson to Tottenham on 1 September 2023, but that deal came after the PSR deadline of 30 June.
The England international previously said the appeal process should be “completed at the latest and preferably some time before May 24”, which is five days after the final weekend of the season.
With a second complaint against Everton still pending and Forest now appealing, relegation from the Premier League this term could end up in court days after the last ball was kicked on the pitch.
