Nottingham Forest break silence with long statement after 4-point deduction as they highlight ‘extreme concern’ for fans

NOTTINGHAM FOREST have revealed that their “trust and confidence” in the Premier League has been “harmed” after they were slapped with a four-point deduction.

Nuno Espirito Santo‘s side dropped into the bottom three after being docked four points for breaking Premier League financial rules.

Reuters

Nottingham Forest have dropped into the relegation zone[/caption]

Prior to their deduction, Forest were 17th with 25 points from 29 games.

Dropping down to 21 points has now seen them fall below Luton into 18th.

Premier League rules stipulate that a club cannot lose more than £105million in three seasons.

Forest have been measured against Premier League and EFL regulations, having been promoted to the top flight in 2022.

In the Championship, clubs are not allowed to lose more than £61m-a-year and they were £34.5m above the threshold.

Responding to their points deduction, Forest revealed their disappointment at the “tone and content” of the Premier League’s submission to the commission.

They claimed that today’s news was “unexpected” after months of “engagement” and “exceptional co-operation” with the Premier League.

Forest believe that the financial rules in question could undermine the “integrity and competitiveness” of the top flight.

Forest have signed 42 players since being promoted back to the Premier League.

In this time they have broken their transfer record three times; on Taiwo Awoniyi, Morgan Gibbs-White and Ibrahim Sangare.

In their case against the independent panel, Forest admitted the breach but have argued they only broke the rules for two months while filing their accounts between June 30 and September 1.

They had only received the first instalment of the £47.5m they are owed by Tottenham from the sale of Brennan Johnson in a deal completed on September 1.

Forest could’ve sold him to Brentford for £30m and complied with the regulations but held out for Spurs’ bigger bid.

Addressing this transfer, Forest’s statement reads: “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.”

Forest have two weeks to launch an appeal against their deduction.

The Premier League have pencilled in May 24 as a backstop date for any appeal – five days after the May 19 final day of the season.

FOREST STATEMENT IN FULL

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.