Nottingham Forest were docked four points for breaching Premier League financial rules on Monday, dumping them in the relegation zone.
The Premier League said in a statement that Forest had admitted breaching the profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) threshold of ￡61 million (US$77.4 million) by ￡34.5 million.
However, Forest said they were “extremely disappointed” by the ruling and “dismayed by the tone” of the league’s argument.
Photo: AFP
“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,” Forest said in a statement.
The two-time European champions are the second top-flight team to be penalized for PSR breaches this season after Everton were hit with a 10-point penalty in November last year, which was reduced to six on appeal.
Everton are still waiting to discover if they will be hit with another points penalty relating to a second charge.
Forest’s punishment means they drop into the bottom three, one point behind Luton Town and four adrift of Everton.
Premier League clubs are usually allowed maximum losses of ￡105 million over a three-year assessment period, but this is reduced by ￡22 million per season for any seasons within the period spent in the Championship.
Forest were promoted to the Premier League in May 2022, meaning two seasons of their three-year assessment period were as a Championship club.
They had been absent from the English top-flight for the previous 23 years.
However, the decision to sign a remarkable 29 players last season, with a reported spend of more than ￡150 million, has backfired.
“We [have] got to take it on the chin and just keep moving forward,” Forest goalkeeper Matt Turner said during a news conference at the US training camp in Arlington, Texas.
“Points deduction aside, we’ve been our own worst enemies in a lot of ways this entire season. So we have all of it in our control. Some of the games that we have coming up are teams in and around us, and if we can control those games and get some wins, then hopefully the point deduction shouldn’t really matter,” he said.
Forest’s defense centered around their sale of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham for a reported ￡47.5 million just over two months after the end of the accounting period in June last year.
The club said they achieved a higher fee for the Welsh international by not selling before June 30.
However, an independent commission found that Forest had to be penalized to “maintain the integrity” of the league.
The commission said that Forest had ignored a warning from its finance director ahead of the January last year transfer window about breaching PSR and pressed ahead with adding more players to their squad rather than stripping back.
“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 said in its written reasons for the decision. “Such risk-taking and ‘sailing close to the wind’ needs a proportionate sanction to maintain the integrity of the Premier League.”
Additional reporting by AP
Nineteen wickets fell yesterday on an opening day of carnage in the first Ashes Test, with England’s attack led by skipper Ben Stokes bowling them into a position of strength after Australia dismissed the tourists for 172. A rampaging Mitchell Starc took 7-58 to put England on the back foot after Stokes won the toss on a fine day at a packed Perth Stadium and chose to bat. Harry Brook (52) and Ollie Pope (46) offered the only resistance as they crumbled after lunch, but England’s elite fast bowlers, led by an exceptional Stokes with 5-23, fought back to reduce the hosts
Houston’s Calen Bullock on Thursday intercepted reigning NFL Most Valuable Player Josh Allen twice and the league’s top defensive unit powered the Texans over Buffalo 23-19. Allen was sacked eight times, his most in any game, for 70 lost yards and Bullock’s final pickoff killed the Bills’ last desperate drive with 18 seconds remaining. The Texans, who have allowed the NFL’s fewest points and fewest yards a game this season, shut down Allen, who produced six touchdowns in a victory over Tampa Bay just four days earlier. “The defense stayed disciplined,” Houston’s Danielle Hunter said. “We had a game plan to keep him
Paul Pogba on Saturday described his emotional Monaco debut as a moment of relief and gratitude, after the French midfielder returned to the pitch for the first time in more than two years following a doping ban. The former Juventus and Manchester United player, who joined the French Ligue 1 side on a free transfer in June, had not played a competitive match since September 2023. Pogba received a four-year ban in February last year after testing positive for banned substance DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), which boosts testosterone levels. The suspension was cut to 18 months after an appeal at the Court
Tyrese Maxey on Thursday scored 54 points to spark the Philadelphia 76ers in a 123-114 overtime victory at Milwaukee, while San Antonio surged late to beat Atlanta. In 47 minutes, star guard Maxey made 18 of 30 shots from the floor, six of 15 from three-point range and 12 of 14 free throws while passing out nine assists and grabbing five rebounds. Milwaukee’s Myles Turner hit a three-pointer with 15 seconds remaining to give the Bucks a 106-104 lead, but Maxey sank two free throws with seven seconds remaining in regulation time to force an extra period. Maxey scored six points in overtime
RSS