The decision to deduct four points from Nottingham Forest following an admitted breach of Premier League rules has been upheld by an independent appeals board.
The club was docked points in March after an independent panel ruled it had breached the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR).
Forest exceeded allowable losses by £34.5 million in the assessment period ending in the 2022-23 season, the panel ruled.
At the time, the deduction placed the team, in its second season in England’s top flight, in the relegation zone.
They quickly said they would appeal, but the panel upheld the original sentence.
This means Forest remain on 29 points, three points and one place above the bottom three, with two Premier League games remaining.
Forest sought a reduction because they felt the original committee should have taken into account the £47.5m sale of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham – two months after the end of the financial year ending 2023 – as a mitigating factor.
They also felt that the original commission made a mistake by not lifting the sanction in whole or in part.
The Premier League said in a statement on its website: “The club argued that the independent committee made a mistake in not treating the sale of a high-profile player so soon after the assessment period as a mitigating factor, and that it made a further error. by choosing not to suspend part or all of the points deduction you imposed.
“Each of these grounds was rejected by the appeals board, which concluded that the independent commission was entitled to immediately impose the sanction it imposed. The four-point deduction will therefore remain in force.”
Last month, Forest took the unusual step of formally accusing a referee of bias after having three penalty appeals rejected in a 2-0 defeat to fellow relegation battlers Everton.
Referee Anthony Taylor refused to award the penalty on each occasion, decisions approved by Stuart Attwell at VAR.
After, Floresta released a statement on social media accusing Attwell of being a fan of Luton – a club also involved in the relegation battle.
They also demanded that the PGMOL, the body responsible for top-level football officials, release audio recordings around the three controversial moments.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
