Nottingham Forest’s appeal against four-point deduction rejected

Nottingham Forest’s appeal against a four-point Premier League deduction for breaching profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) has been rejected.

Forest said when the punishment was imposed in March that they were “extremely disappointed” and claimed spending restrictions on promoted clubs undermined the league’s “integrity and competitiveness”. The club argued that their reasons for selling Brennan Johnson two months after the PSR deadline should be treated as mitigation and the points deduction should be suspended but the independent appeal board said: “We reject all the criticisms made by the club of the commission’s approach and reasoning.”

Related: ‘Unintended friction’: Clattenburg leaves referee analyst role at Forest

Forest remain one place and three points above Luton, who occupy the final relegation place, with two games remaining. Nuno Espírito Santo’s side boosted their hopes of survival by defeating Sheffield United last weekend. They face Chelsea at home on Saturday and go to Burnley on the final day.

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Forest breached permitted losses of £61m by £34.5m. Premier League clubs are allowed to lose £105m over a three-year period but Forest’s permitted losses were limited to £61m because they spent two years of the period in the Championship. Clubs’ permitted losses are reduced by £22m for each season across a three-year accounting period they spend in the EFL.

The Premier League said: “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.”