Nottingham Forest have been warned that they could potentially be docked further points if they appeal against their recent Premier League points deduction.
The club were handed a four-point penalty on Monday, after being charged with breaching the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability rules in January.
It was found that Forest made losses £34.5m over the allotted figure that is permitted to clubs in the Premier League.
In Forest’s case though, as they had spent two years in the Championship during that period, their cap on losses was much lower compared to clubs who had spent the entire time in the Premier League.
The deduction sent Forest into the bottom three, one point below Luton Town, who they drew 1-1 with at Kenilworth Road on Saturday.
In a statement released in the aftermath of the punishment, the club showed their dissatisfaction with the ruling, with an appeal looking likely.
The statement read: “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.
“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.”
Further on in the strongly-worded statement, Forest questioned the integrity of the Premier League, claiming that clubs outside of the elite are being unfairly held back by the current rules.
“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.
“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.”
With the anger there for all to to see, inews claims that financial and law experts have stated any appeal from Forest could result in further sanctions, as the entire case would need to be reassessed by the Commission from top to bottom.
Given that Forest were spared an additional two points being taken off from their penalty due to cooperation during the process, that could be reapplied if the club decides to appeal, extending the charge to a six-point penalty.
The report also states that the Premier League could hand Forest the eight-point penalty they were initially pushing for if the decision goes to an appeal.
Everton were not found to be cooperative during their first charge last November, as well as allegedly providing false figures in terms of their overall spending, meaning they were not let off with two points in the same way as Forest.
The Toffees have admitted a breach for their second charge though, and could see their punishment reduced when it is heard next week, before being announced in April.