Nottingham Forest’s four-point penalty upheld by independent appeal board

Nottingham Forest’s four-point penalty for breaching Premier League financial rules has been upheld by an independent appeal board.

The club were hit with the original sanction by an independent commission on March 18 for breaching permitted losses by £34.5million in the assessment period ending with the 2022-23 season.

They quickly indicated their intention to appeal, but the panel has upheld the original penalty.

That means Forest remain on 29 points and sit three above the relegation zone, with two Premier League matches left to play.

Forest had sought a reduction because they felt the original commission should have taken the sale of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham – two months after the end of the financial year ending 2023 – into account as a mitigating factor.

They also felt the original commission had made a mistake by not wholly or partially suspending the sanction.

A release published on the Premier League website read: “The club argued that the independent commission committed an error in not treating its sale of a high-profile player shortly after the assessment period as a mitigating factor, and that it committed a further error in electing not to suspend some or all of the points deduction it imposed.

“Each of these grounds was rejected by the appeal board, which found the independent commission was entitled to immediately impose the sanction it did.

“The four-point deduction will therefore remain in place.”