Fans urge Nottingham Forest to appeal points deduction
The Reds had four points taken off them for breaching Premier League financial rules.
Nottingham Forest fans are urging the club to appeal a decision to dock them points for breaching Premier League financial rules.
The four deduction drops Forest into the Premier League's relegation zone, leaving them 18th with nine games to play.
The Premier League said Forest admitted breaching profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) by £34.5million above their permitted threshold of £61million.
The commission which imposed the sanction on Forest praised the club for their "exceptional co-operation" in their dealings with the Premier League on this issue.
The commission noted Forest's breach was "serious" and stated in its conclusion: "The four points sanction is not to punish Forest so much as it is to be fair to the other clubs; to give the public confidence that when a club invests as Forest did to compete in the Premier League, it still needs to comply with the PSR threshold for losses."
The commission ruling added: "When a club like Forest took the risk of effectively ignoring the PSR warning from its finance director before the January window in 2023, and rather than looking to sell players, it added players to its squad, ultimately leaving itself with just two weeks to sell Player A (Brennan Johnson) in the summer 2023 window, such risk taking and 'sailing close to the wind' needs a proportionate sanction to maintain the integrity of the Premier League."
"Extremely disappointed"
Nottingham Forest released a statement last night (18th MARCH) and said:
"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.
"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.
"That the Premier League sought a sanction of eight points as a starting point was utterly disproportionate when compared to the nine points that their own rules prescribe for insolvency.
"We were also surprised that the Premier League gave no consideration at all to the unique circumstances of the Club and its mitigation. In circumstances where this approach is followed by future PSR commissions, it would make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for newly promoted clubs without parachute payments to compete, thus undermining the integrity and competitiveness of the Premier League.
"Whilst the Premier League may have called into question the Club’s business plan, the Club maintains that it responsibly balanced compliance with PSR with important investment into the squad to give us the ability to compete in the league for the first time in over 20 years.
"Even after the Club had missed the PSR reporting deadline, it still took steps to ensure Brennan Johnson was sold before the end of the transfer window. That was a clear demonstration of our respect and support for PSR.
"The Commission's decision raises issues of concern for all aspirant clubs. The player transfer market is a highly specialised trading environment that cannot be compared to the sale of normal products and services.
"There will be occasions when a player transfer cannot be completed in the first half of a transfer window and can only be completed at the end of that window. This should not be a reason for the condemnation of a club. For this not to be recognised by the Commission or the Premier League should be a matter of extreme concern for all fans of our national game.
"Of wider concern for all aspirant clubs is the disturbing effect this decision will have on the operation of the player trading model. This is the only model by which clubs outside of the small group at the very top end of the Premier League can realistically advance up the football pyramid.
"The rationale of the Commission is that clubs should only invest after they have realised a profit on their player development. This reasoning destroys mobility in the football pyramid and the effect of the decision will be to drastically reduce the room for manoeuvre for all such clubs, leading to the stagnation of our national game.
"We believe that the high levels of cooperation the Club has shown during this process, and which are confirmed and recorded in the Commission's decision, were not reciprocated by the Premier League."
Fans have also called in to question whether the rules are fit for purpose and are urging the club to put up a fight.
Rich Ferraro Hosts 1865: The Nottingham Forest Podcast. He says:
"It seems as though the mitigating factors have not been taken into account by the commission.
"If that's the case we absolutely should be appealing.
"However, Forest knew they were breaking the rules, so they've kind of only got themselves to blame".