English Premier League side Nottingham Forest’s appeal to overturn the decision to deduct four points from them for breaching the Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) has been rejected by the Premier League Appeals Board. This means the Forest are 17th-placed and three points shy of relegation.
Forest expressed extreme disappointment when the punishment was imposed in March, claiming that spending restrictions on promoted clubs undermined the league’s integrity and competitiveness.
After hearing the case, the Premier League Appeals Board upheld the decision, leaving Forest three points above the relegation zone with two matches remaining. They took a significant step towards retaining their Premier League status by winning at Sheffield United last Saturday.
The Premier League‘s Profit and Sustainability Rules allow clubs to incur losses of up to £105m over three seasons, or £35m per campaign. However, Forest’s maximum permitted loss was limited to £61m, as they spent two years of the assessment period in the Championship.
In the 2022-23 season, the club’s net transfer spend was £142.8m. They incurred an average loss of £3m across 2020 and 2021, with an additional £40m loss in 2022 and £52m in 2023, totalling £95m.
Initially, Forest was due to receive a six-point deduction – three points for the initial breach and a further three for the magnitude of the breach. However, their ‘early plea’ and ‘cooperation’ led to the deduction being reduced to four points.
