Nottingham Forest’s appeal against a four-point deduction for breaching Premier League financial rules has been rejected.
An independent appeal board which reviewed the case has upheld the original decision by a commission, made back in March.
The ruling means Forest stay 17th in the Premier League on 29 points, three above Luton and five above Burnley, with two games of the season left to play.
The appeal decision, published on Tuesday (May 7) says the appeal board agrees with the original deduction of points for breaching the Profitability and Sustainability Rules [PSR] by exceeding permitted losses of £61 million by £34.5 million.
The PSR sanction applied to a period ending in season 2022-23 and was appealed by the club on two grounds.
The club argued the independent commission committed an error in not treating its sale of a high-profile player, believed to be Brennan Johnson, 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.
A statement on the decision released by the Premier League said: “Each of these grounds was rejected by the appeal board, which found the independent commission was entitled to immediately impose the sanction it did. The four-point deduction will therefore remain in place.”
Forest are yet to comment.
