Forest left to play long game in relegation battle
STILL NO DECISION MADE ON POINTS DEDUCTION APPEAL
THE wait goes on for Nottingham Forest as they are yet to discover whether they have been successful in contesting their four-point deduction for breaking financial rules.
The club had hoped to hear by now, having had their appeal hearing last Wednesday. But now just hours before this afternoon’s crunch clash at Sheffield United, they are still none the wiser.
For head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, no news is not good news. He has said all along he wanted clarity as soon as possible.
The Reds could head to Bramall Lane still not certain of how many points they actually have. Below, we take a look at the situation as things stand.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED SO FAR...
Forest were charged with falling foul of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules on January 15. A three-person independent commission then heard their case on March 7 and 8.
Ten days later, on March 18, the club were docked four points. They were found to have breached their maximum £61 million permitted losses across a rolling three-year period by £34.5m.
The Reds released a hard-hitting statement when the announcement was made and appealed against the sanction. Their appeal hearing, in front of a different three-person independent commission, took place last Wednesday (April 24) and lasted a day.
WHY HAVEN’T FOREST HEARD YET?
The club had expected to hear this week. However, unlike with the original hearing, there is no set timescale within the Premier League rules for delivering an appeal verdict. The rules only state: “The Appeal Board must provide its decision, together with written reasons, (the “Appeal Decision”) prior to and if possible some time before the Backstop Date.”
In contrast, the rules concerning Forest’s first hearing state: “The Commission must provide its decision, together with written reasons, within one week (seven days) of the conclusion of the hearing (the “Commission Decision”).
The backstop date the Premier League have in place for concluding the appeal cases of both the Reds and Everton (who have appealed against a two-point deduction for a second PSR breach) is May 24 – five days after the final round of fixtures. However, they recently announced a decision on the Toffees’ appeal
would be made public before May 19 and Forest’s case should be concluded well before then.
WHAT HAS BEEN SAID?
In his pre-match press conference on Thursday, Nuno said: “Unfortunately we haven’t heard yet. We are expecting, but not yet.
“It is very difficult. We have been dealing with this situation for a while. We all expected the decision to come sooner so we are aware and we know exactly how many points we have. Do we have 30, 29, 28, 27? We need it as fast as possible. These are the things the club is dealing with, not us.
“Thirty (points) would be fantastic because this is what the players have achieved on the pitch. I totally agree, it is a mess, they have had enough time.
“It’s a mess, it’s very difficult not only for us but for all the league, especially the clubs that are involved in points deduction. It’s very difficult to deal with this.”
WHAT COULD THE APPEAL VERDICT BE?
There is a very small risk of Forest’s sanction being increased, although that is believed to be unlikely to happen.
Nevertheless, Premier League rules state an appeal board may “except in the case of a fixed penalty, vary any penalty imposed or order made at first instance”.
It is impossible to predict the outcome but the Reds are hopeful of success.
Even getting one point back could make a big difference in their relegation battle.