Nottingham Forest hit by crushing blow as verdict of points deduction appeal confirmed

It leaves Forest just three points above the relegation zone. The club has 29 points while Luton Town, sat just below them, have 26.

The club were hit with the original sanction by an independent commission on March 18 for breaching permitted losses by £34.5million in the assessment period ending with the 2022-23 season.

Under Premier League rules, clubs are allowed to lose £105million over a three-year period.

However Forest’s permitted losses were limited to £61million because they spent two years of the period in the Championship.

A release published on the Premier League website read: “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.”

Forest are yet to publicly respond to the outcome of their appeal but in their initial statement in March the club said they were extremely disappointed.

"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," the Midlands club said.

"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."