Nottingham Forest dropped into the relegation zone following their points deduction.
Nottingham Forest have been punished four points for breaking Premier League profit and sustainability regulations.
An independent panel found Forest’s losses to 2022-23 breached the threshold of £61m by £34.5m.
The sudden loss of points means they slide behind Luton Town into the Premier League’s relegation zone.
Forest said they are “extremely disappointed” with the decision, which they claim “raises issues of concern for all aspirant clubs”.
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A club statement read: “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.”
Forest are the second top-flight team to be fined for PSR violations after Everton lost 10 points in November, which was reduced to six on appeal.
The City Ground club, who are likely to appeal against the judgment, had a hearing on 7-8 March.
Premier League clubs can lose £105m over three seasons – £35m per campaign – but Forest’s maximum deficit was only permitted to be £61m because they spent two years of the evaluation period in the Championship.
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The Premier League first indicated Forest should “before mitigation” be punished eight points, with a reduction of six, because of this infraction being 77% higher than in Everton’s case.
Forest stated this starting point was “utterly disproportionate when compared to the nine points that [the Premier League’s] own rules prescribe for insolvency”.
The committee determined Forest displayed “exceptional cooperation” with the Premier League during the process.
However, Forest argued that level of cooperation was “not reciprocated” by the Premier League.
The explanation for the four-point deduction has been stated in the commission’s written conclusions.
Forest were supposed to be penalized with a six-point deduction – three points for the original breach and a further three for the extent of the breach – but their “early plea” and “cooperation” meant that was reduced to four points.
The league’s rules specify any appeals procedure should “conclude no later than and if possible some time before 24 May” – five days after the season closes.
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