Forest lose appeal against Premier League points penalty

AFP | London

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Nottingham Forest have failed in their appeal against a four-point penalty for breaching Premier League financial rules, the English top flight announced yesterday.

The club were hit with the sanction by an independent commission in March for breaching the profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) threshold of £61 million ($76 million) by £34.5 million.

Forest quickly indicated their intention to appeal but an independent appeal board panel has upheld the original penalty, which relates to a three-year assessment period ending with the 2022/23 season.

It means the 17th-placed club remain on 29 points, three points above the relegation zone, with two games left to play.

Forest had sought a reduction in the punishment because they felt the original commission should have taken the big-money sale of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham, two months after the end of the financial year ending 2023, into account as a mitigating factor.

They also felt the original commission had made a mistake by not wholly or partially suspending the sanction.

A release published on the Premier League website read: “The club argued that the independent commission committed an error in not treating its sale of a high-profile player shortly after the assessment period as a mitigating factor, and that it committed a further error in electing not to suspend some or all of the points deduction it imposed.