Nottingham Forest drop into relegation zone as points deduction is confirmed by Premier League
The Premier League has announced that Nottingham Forest have been deducted four points for breaching financial rules.
Forest have been waiting to learn their fate for several months and have now been informed of the Premier League’s decision to deduct them four points.
Nottingham Forest deducted four points
This was reported by the Guardian on Monday, with it claimed that the City Ground club are ‘likely to appeal’ the outcome.
The deduction drops Nuno Espirito Santo’s side into the Premier League’s relegation zone, leaving them 18th with nine games to play.
The Premier League said Forest admitted breaching profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) by £34.5million above their permitted threshold of £61million.
Clubs are usually allowed maximum losses of £105m over a three-year assessment period but this is reduced by £22m per season for any seasons within the period spent in the Championship.
Forest spent big following their promotion back to the top flight in May 2022.
They splashed out around £250million on a silly 42 players, which did ultimately help them avoid relegation under Steve Cooper.
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Last summer was very tame in comparison but they enjoyed a late flurry in the transfer window after selling Brennan Johnson to Tottenham for £47.5m.
They used the sale of Johnson in their defence to the Premier League, although this was not accepted.
The commission which imposed the sanction on Forest praised the club for their “exceptional co-operation” in their dealings with the Premier League on this issue.
The commission noted Forest’s breach was “serious” and stated in its conclusion: “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.”
The commission ruling added: “When a club like Forest took the risk of effectively ignoring the PSR warning from its finance director before the January window in 2023, and rather than looking to sell players, it added players to its squad, ultimately leaving itself with just two weeks to sell Player A (Brennan Johnson) in the summer 2023 window, such risk taking and ‘sailing close to the wind’ needs a proportionate sanction to maintain the integrity of the Premier League.”
Forest have yet to issue a statement indicating whether or not they would appeal. Under the ‘standard directions’ for dealing with PSR complaints, any appeal outcome must be known prior to June 1, when promoted clubs receive their Premier League ‘shares’.
Everton were docked 10 points in November for breaching PSR in the period up to the 2021/22 season, which was reduced to six on appeal.
A second complaint against the Toffees over a breach in the period up to last season is still being dealt with.
Interestingly, the full reasons written by the independent commission revealed that Nottingham Forest received a €50million bid from Spanish side Atletico Madrid for Johnson.
Forest came back to Atletico with a counter offer worth €60m before rejecting three bids from Premier League rivals Brentford.
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