Premier League questioned for allowing ‘big clubs’ to do what is denied Nottingham Forest

Not only was Nottingham Forest’s appeal against their four-point penalty for violating Premier League player spending rules rejected by an impartial panel, but it also seemed to incite criticism of the team.

The Reds attempted to salvage some points last month when they appeared before a three-person tribunal to present their case against the sanction imposed in March, but ultimately were unsuccessful.

Forest had argued that one mitigating factor ought to have been the sale of Brennan Johnson on deadline day last summer—two months after the end of the relevant fiscal year under review by the top-flight and their PSR acolytes. For this reason, Forest thought the commission erred in not suspending the points deduction entirely or in part. Nevertheless, the appeal hearing dismissed both of these arguments.

“We are all in agreement that the commission had the right and authority to impose the sanction of a deduction of four points and to refuse to suspend it,” the panel continued. Over a rolling three-year period, the Reds lost £34.5 million more than their permitted maximum of £61 million.

Reds supporters have been voicing their opinions on the matter following the appeal decision.

Red Dog 1968 is a frustrated commenter. “Can we just get over this whole sorry affair now?” he asks. I’m done with the where, what, and why questions. We’ve lost points due to excessive spending; it doesn’t seem fair, but there isn’t much we can do about it.

No matter how you feel about the points deduction, appeal, etc., user El Perro Rojo continues, “it is still surprising the speed at which it was done.” Additionally, they are still looking into Man City’s offences.

“It’s amazing how quickly they charged us, decided to dock the points, found time to hear the appeal, turned it down, and then followed up with this statement,” says Designoutloud, who concurs. Man City, on the other hand, has not been able to provide any information regarding the charges, even eighteen months after declaring they are under investigation, or even to indicate when a hearing may take place.”

According to Melgarion, the 61 mill argument is, in my opinion, the more egregious of the two (Brennan and 61 mill vs. 105 mill). How come ultra-wealthy clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool, and London FC can afford to lose more money than those that have recently been promoted? That seems incredibly unfair and upside down to me.

“At first we were expecting a 10-point deduction on par with Everton – then 6 (like Everton) & we ended up with 4,” says ChrissyD. All I can say is that I’m glad they didn’t raise it. It surprised me that even though we appealed, we never anticipated hearing back because 4 is a feasible number. Nevertheless, we must accept this, move on, and close the deal on the pitch. Arnoldtricky agrees, saying, “4 points off, who cares?” in his conclusion. Nottingham Forest will not go down!”