PL News: Forest respond to points deduction
The loss of four points drops Forest into relegation zone
Nottingham Forest have been penalised with a deduction of four points for violating the Premier League's profit and sustainability regulations.
An independent commission discovered that the club's losses for the period until 2022-23 exceeded the £61m threshold by £34.5m. As a result, Forest have dropped into the Premier League's relegation zone, falling below Luton Town.
Forest are the second team in the Premier League to be punished for breaching the Profit and Sustainability Regulations (PSR) after Everton's loss of 10 points in November. This was later reduced to six upon appeal. The City Ground club, who are likely to appeal against the ruling, had their hearing on 7-8 March.
What are the Profit and Sustainability Regulations?
According to the rules and regulations, Premier League clubs can lose up to £105m over three seasons (£35m per campaign). However, Forest's maximum loss was limited to £61m as they spent two years of the assessment period in the Championship.
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A statement on the Nottingham Forest website reads:
"Nottingham Forest is extremely disappointed with the decision of the Commission to impose a sanction on the Club of four points, to be applied with immediate effect.
Notwithstanding our disappointment, we thank the Commission for agreeing to deal with this matter on an expedited basis. The Club considers it to be essential for the integrity of the league to have charges resolved in the season in which they are issued."
Club statement.
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) March 18, 2024
"We were extremely dismayed by the tone and content of the Premier League’s submissions before the Commission.
After months of engagement with the Premier League, and exceptional cooperation throughout, this was unexpected and has harmed the trust and confidence we had in the Premier League."
Read more here: Nottingham Forest FC - Club statement
Fan reaction
Kieron, a Nottingham Forest Season Ticket holder, told us: "Bizarrely, I actually think this might give us the impetus to stay up now. The whole club will start to fight in the same direction again. The atmosphere at the City Ground over the next few weeks will be amazing. Just look at what happened to Everton in the immediate aftermath of their points deduction. They put in some great performances."