Nottingham Forest appeal four-point deduction for PSR breach | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest are making a stand against their recent four-point deduction for breaching Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

The club have lodged an official appeal against the penalty imposed, with owner Evangelos Marinakis giving the green light following legal consultations.

This comes after a tumultuous week for the Tricky Trees, who were charged with breaching PSR alongside fellow relegation strugglers Everton in January.

The four-point hit sent Forest tumbling into the relegation zone, one point behind 17th-placed Luton Town and four adrift of Everton, who await the outcome of their second PSR hearing.

The Premier League claims Forest exceeded their PSR threshold by £34.5 million during the relevant period.

Forest initially stated their disapproval of the penalty in an official statement, but this has now translated into an official appeal.

The club’s initial PSR argument centred around the deal to sell Brennan Johnson to Tottenham Hotspur last summer.

They argued that selling the youngster late in the transfer window for a higher fee boosted their financial sustainability, but the Premier League’s independent commission wasn’t convinced.

Premier League regulations allow clubs to lose a maximum of £105m over three seasons. But Forest’s permitted losses were capped at £61m because they spent two years of the assessment period in the Championship.

The initial punishment proposed for Forest was an eight-point deduction, later reduced to six points in recognition of the severity of the breach compared to similar cases.

However, the club’s full cooperation during the investigation process saw a further reduction to four points.

That didn’t sit well with Everton, who received an initial ten-point deduction, later reduced to six, despite posting financial losses £15m lower than Forest.

Everton have since called for the Premier League to suspend all hearings into PSR breaches due to a lack of transparency and inconsistent sanctions.

Those calls have fallen on deaf ears, with the club set to learn their fate when the outcome of the second hearing is announced later this week.