Nottingham Forest hit with points deduction by Premier League
Nottingham Forest have appealed against their four-point deduction for breaching the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR). The top-flight strugglers have confirmed owner Evangelos Marinakis' intention to fight back against punishment for breaking the competition's financial regulations.
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Last week, Forest sank into the relegation zone, one point behind Luton Town in safety, after being found to have breached the league's PSR.
The club issued a statement stating they were "extremely dismayed" by the outcome, while Marinakis was reportedly furious with the blow.
Forest's breach was found to be significantly larger than Everton's, which saw the Toffees deducted six points.
However, their punishment was reduced from eight points to six to four due to "exceptional cooperation" during the process.
The Premier League's PSR state that clubs can lose a maximum of £105million over three seasons. But Forest's was capped at £61m because they were a Championship club for two years of the period in focus.
The Telegraph report that talks between Marinakis, sports lawyer Nick De Marco KC and club officials resulted in the decision to contest the verdict.
On Monday, a club statement read: "Nottingham Forest can confirm that it has today lodged an appeal against the four-point sanction imposed by the Commission in relation to the Club's breach of the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
"The club will not be making any further statement at this time."
The Premier League confirmed: "Nottingham Forest Football Club has appealed the decision of an independent Commission to impose a four-point deduction on the club after its admission of a breach of the Premier League's Profitability and Sustainability Rules.
"The club lodged the appeal to the Chair of the Judicial Panel today, who will now appoint an Appeal Board to hear the case."
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Forest's appeal risks causing a distraction as Nuno Espirito Santo's side face the challenge of drifting away from the relegation battle on the pitch in the coming months.
The process could rumble on until the final month of the season, but the City Ground outfit will be confident of their chances of getting their point deduction reduced.
It's claimed that Forest believe that the independent commission dismissed their decision to delay the £48m sale of star man Brennan Johnson to Tottenham Hotspur last summer until September.
They argued that they managed to secure a bigger fee for the 22-year-old winger by doing so. However, the independent commission ruled the transfer to be outside of the financial year.
