Forest hit out at EFL board as move for Kamil blocked
NOTTINGHAM Forest have hit back at the EFL board after seeing their bid to sign Kamil Grosicki rejected.
The Reds were determined to sign the Poland winger on a season-long loan from West Bromwich Albion on transfer deadline day.
However, a dispute over the timing of submission of paperwork before the 5pm cut-off point saw the transfer go to an arbitration hearing after the EFL refused to sanction the deal.
The hearing ruled against Forest, 13 days after deadline day.
A Forest statement said: “We would like to thank the arbitrator for considering our case at such short notice and delivering his decision with the requested speed.
“We were always realistic about the limited prospects of overturning the exercise of a discretion by the EFL board.
“We challenged the decision of the EFL board because we believed that we owed an obligation to the player and our fans to challenge the refusal to permit the registration on the basis of an alleged 20-second delay in submitting one document when every other action taken by the club was in time.
“It is implicit in the arbitrator’s decision that the board could have exercised its discretion lawfully in the circumstances and to have permitted the transfer.
“We believe it is a matter of significant regret that the board exercised its discretion against us and the player when it could have
done the opposite.
“In particular we do not believe the board’s decision was the product of the type of governance needed to enable the EFL to flourish and to provide the fans with a vibrant competition.
“Judging by the numerous expressions of private support that we have received from other Championship rivals we believe we are not alone in holding this view.”