Official: Nottingham Forest lose four points

Nuno Espírito Santo’s team was punished for failing to comply with the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules

It’s official: the Premier League announced that Nottingham Forest, the team coached by Nuno Espírito Santo, will actually lose four points, due to non-compliance with the competition’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules.

The Premier League’s official statement reads: «An independent Commission applied an immediate four-point deduction to Nottingham Forest for breaching the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (RRS) in the period ending in the 2022/23 season. Nottingham Forest were reported to an independent committee on 15 January following the club’s admission that they had breached the relevant RRS threshold of £61 (€71) million by £34.5 (€40) million. The cap was less than £105 million (€122) as the club spent two seasons of the trial period in the second league. The case was heard under the new Premier League Rules, which provide an accelerated timetable for RRS cases to be resolved in the same season in which the complaint is made.»

The statement also adds that the club was heard and cooperated in an “exceptional” way: “The independent Commission determined the sanction following a two-day hearing this month, in which the club had the opportunity to detail a series of mitigating factors. The Commission concluded that the club demonstrated ‘exceptional cooperation’ in its negotiations with the Premier League throughout the process.”

It is the second time that an English league club has seen points deducted due to non-compliance with these financial rules during the current season. Everton were punished with a loss of 10 points, with the sanction being corrected to a deduction of just six. The four points removed leave Forest in relegation places.

The Liverpool club’s appeal allowed them to ‘recover’ four points