Forest fail in appeal against Premier League points deduction

Nottingham Forest have failed in their appeal against a four-point penalty for breaching Premier League financial rules.

An independent Appeal Board has upheld the decision of an Independent Commission to deduct four points from Forest after the club admitted breaching the league’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

It means Forest remain 17^th in the table, three points ahead of third-bottom Luton and the relegation zone with two games remaining.

The PSR sanction was applied after the Commission found the club’s losses for the 2022-23 season breached the £61million threshold by more than £34m.

Forest appealed on two grounds, arguing the independent Commission committed an error in not treating its £47.5m sale of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham shortly after the assessment period ended as a mitigating factor.

They also claimed the commission committed a further error in electing not to suspend some or all of the points deduction it imposed.

A Premier League statement 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 had been due to receive a six-point deduction – three points for the initial offence and a further three for the magnitude of the breach – but saw the penalty reduced due to their cooperation and early acceptance of the charge.

In November, Everton were deducted 10 points for breaching PSR, which was later reduced to six on appeal, though a second breach in March led to a further two-point penalty.

Forest welcome Chelsea to the City Ground on Saturday before visiting second-bottom Burnley on the final day.